


On Silent Wings

by ChillMalDigga



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (at least until chapter 9), Angels, Angst, Anxiety, Canon Compliant, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Demons, Fire and Ice, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Minami kidnapping, Miscommunication, Nephilim, Soulmates, Threats, bigbangonice2018, fighting and ice skating, nearly everyone is supernatural, urban fantasy au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-16 01:34:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 46,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13625766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillMalDigga/pseuds/ChillMalDigga
Summary: After an attack in Sochi Yuuri can't deny being able to see supernatural creatures any longer. That doesn't mean he is going to tell anyone. But with Viktor's sudden appearance and the feeling to be drawn to the half-angel Yuuri can't help but try to accept it. No one expected him to be one of their kind. And the danger is waiting at the horizon, willing to turn lovers against each other with ruthless methods.





	1. Of demon attacks and worried friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Owaya1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owaya1/gifts), [narikopathfinder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/narikopathfinder/gifts), [DontTrustLoserCandy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DontTrustLoserCandy/gifts).



> I want to thank the Mods and people on the BBOI for giving me the chance to take part in another Bang. Special thanks to my artists, Rickichie and Moonlite Knight, who did awesome art for this fic! But most of all I want to thank the people of the Chrisbot server. I spent nearly a year with you awesome guys, you helped me through this with plotting and so on. You guys rock.  
> I hope you enjoy this urban - fantasy story.

A dazzling smile there, let the Gucci glasses wander down the nose and take photos with fans and fellow skaters. It was a routine Viktor trained ever since he was famous enough to have his own fans. It was the image he had to uphold in this world. He was a sports athlete, holding world records and pushing the retire-age up.  
Viktor Nikiforov, the 4-time world champion, has lost his inspiration.  
It wasn’t like he wouldn’t fight for the gold medal, Christophe Giacometti, Swiss’ number 1 skater could try him, but something lacked. He didn’t know what it was, but his second nature wasn’t pleased with him anymore.  
The silver-haired Russian looked around, seeing so many familiar faces, most of them he counted into his friendship circle, others were more like family, but everyone who was near to him knew the ‘other side’ of the world.

“Viktor! Get on the ice before I have to throw you out there!” Yakov barked, standing already on the rink wall. He sighed, let his press-smile plaster his face again, putting his sunglasses in his team-jacket and he walked up to his coach. He shrugged the Russia-jacket off his shoulders, showing off his customized trainings-gear, and gave Yakov his jacket.

“Don’t ruffle your feathers up too much. And for god’s sake, leave Giacometti alone!” Yakov hissed at him, and Viktor nodded absently.

“I can’t promise. Chris seems to let his charm play a lot today!” The world-champion laughed and skated off before Yakov could scold him more. Viktor made a short show for the press, it was a public training so he would do his best to impress, but soon he found himself leaning on the rink wall next to Chris who smirked at him.

“Checking the other competitors?” Chris asked, and Viktor shrugged.

“Maybe one of them can surprise me and really fight us on the podium?” Viktor questioned, watching Otabek Altin jumping a triple Axel.

“Watch out for Japan. Never seen a human coming so far in his first try in the GPF. I know him from back in the juniors. He is good, but something seems to hold him back.” Chris told him, and Viktor arched an elegant silver eyebrow.

“Where did he place after the short program?” He asked, and Chris knitted his forehead to remember it.

“I think third actually?! He beat Otabek by mere 0.9 points but at the moment he is at the podium.”

They looked together for the Japanese skater and winced when he fell.

“It’s sad.” Chris sighed, “Every time he is doing good he is failing to keep his game up.”

“It became rare that you are interested in someone outside your relationship with Pierre.” Viktor snorted

“Just because I am off the market doesn’t mean I can not window-shop, mon chéri. I mean, look at these tights and ass. He has a nice ass but he shouldn’t ruin it with constantly landing on it.” Chris hummed, and Viktor chuckled. Another jump and Japan’s skater wobbled on his legs.  
Viktor shook his head and pushed himself from the rink wall when the others started to cool down and leave one by one. By the time the Russian skater left the rink and went to the changing rooms he still could hear attempted jumps and muttered cursing.

“Yuuri! Enough!” The coach of the Japanese skater said, his tone sad and a slight tinge of regret in it.

_So, his name is Yuuri,_ Viktor mused and followed Chris into the changing room.

Something was off the very next day. Viktor couldn’t see Japan’s skater around, he seemed to have vanished from the earth, but his coach was still there, seems to be more worried than yesterday, and when Viktor could see it right, the man was sad. Did something happen to Yuuri?  
The Russian skater got a glimpse on Yuuri in the hallway when he searched for a calm place to warm up. The Japanese skater was pale, a very ill-pale and looked like he had seen death itself. He clutched to his phone and didn’t seem to know what to do. Viktor thought about going to him, asking if he could help, or if he just wanted to talk over whatever was bothering him. The moment he decided he should help the poor soul the other skater was already gone. It irked the silver-haired man that a human could weasel itself that fast away but he knew he shouldn’t care too much. If the man really needed help, he would have most likely talked with his coach.

What irked him more was the scent of foulness in the air and his eyes widened when the scent got stronger. Normally it was a scent that was found near graveyards, hospitals and near the apartment of dying people, the scent of these who were after the immortal souls of humans. Viktor didn’t know what he should do, but his body responded on instinct, running after the scent, searching for its source and his second nature prepared to attack. He could feel how the power rushed through his vines and his weapon of choice found its way in his hand.

He acted quickly. The moment when he reached the dead-end where the foulness was the strongest, his second, no, his true nature fully took over. His costume and team clothes gave way for an armor in shiny gold and white, and his weapon of choice, a long whip roared up in flames. He could feel the weight of beautiful large wings between his shoulders. The wings weren’t pure  like the wings of true angels, but not completely dark like these of the fallen ones. This Viktor Nikiforov was a Nephilim, a born guardian to the hidden side of the world, the side of magical creatures who didn’t belong to either heaven or hell. And he gladly would take the task of his forefathers, to guard the humans from their side.

The vile creature had the Japanese skater at his throat, pressed against the wall and hissing lovely words to the man, telling him to give up on life, that he had lived through enough pain and would join his family in the afterlife. Viktor could hear that the skater struggled to say that no one of his family died and that he should let him go, even going so far to try to kick the creature off him, but it seemed like it only angered the demon more.

Viktor wouldn’t listen any longer, he flicked the flaming whip, and the weapon curled itself around the neck of the demon. It let go an ugly shriek, his claws left the Japanese man who immediately backed away as much as possible but it was only the corner if the wall. He whimpered in pain and fueled the guardian’s anger. Viktor ripped the demon back, the flames burned themselves into the flesh of the vile creature who hissed in pain but already got the whip off its throat. The demon used the whip to drag the Nephilim towards him, ignoring the sizzling of its own flesh and Viktor had to stomp his heels into the ground to stop himself and used the moment to pull on his whip to throw the creature off. The demon let his own ugly leather-like wings snap open, flapping them a bit to gain back his balance and roar in anger.

“Back off, guardian! He is mine.” The beast said, its throaty voice rasped like sandpaper over the wrong material and Viktor could hear the whimper coming from Yuuri. He snorted and stepped forward, the demon growled and threw himself towards the human, trying to get at least a bite but again Viktor’s whip was faster but the sudden cry of pain threw him off. The demon got the dark-haired man with its claws, four gaping cuts through the Japan-team-jacket already soaked in blood.  
The silver-haired man let his own furry run wild, his wings spreading and he used their power to drag the spitting demon farther away from innocent human. Every mighty flap got them farther away from Yuuri and with the free room between them, Viktor didn’t have to fear that the monster could reach the human.

“Say your last words, underling!” Viktor hissed and let the holy fire of his whip burn brighter. The demon screeched in pain until its body erupted in hell’s black fire and he vanished to the fields of punishment. Viktor sighed and folded his wings behind him. He needed to look after Yuuri, the smell of blood got strong here and would most likely attract not only more demons but humans too. And the fight wasn’t silent either. He could hear Chris already approaching him, his steps too light for a regular human.

“What happened? It reeks of demon and blood!” Chris hissed, and they reached the passed-out skater.

“Shit.”

“Indeed. It wonders me how he could refuse the demon at all. Yuuri literally spat into its face.” Viktor chuckled dryly.

“You can’t heal him Viktor! You know that our magic could kill him right on the spot!”

“I know! I KNOW!” He shouted and already regretted it.

“But we can patch him up good enough to get a blinding – spell over him.” Viktor said and it already hurt to know that the man’s chance to win was gone. Yuuri would most likely be in constant pain, and either give up or don’t start at all.  
Together with Chris, he stopped the bleeding and they weaved a complex spell to let the Japanese skater appear like nothing happened. The spell itself didn’t mess with the human nature, only laid as a layer over the body.

“Well, I’ll miss him. The demon appearing here only could mean that he is ending his road soon.” Chris sighed, and Viktor shivered at the thought.

“Don’t say it… Just don’t. He survived today, maybe he is a fighter?!” The silver-haired Nephilim hissed.

“Don’t try to deny it Viktor. We should wake him up asap so he can get warmed up as good as possible. I have some smelling salt somewhere in one of my pockets.” Chris mumbled and fished after the salt in his team jacket. Viktor didn’t want to know why the Swiss skater had it with him but it could help.

“Go, he has seen you in this form and will most likely be in shock. At least I can pretend right now that he had fallen asleep.” Chris shooed him off and Viktor unwillingly left.

For Yuuri the smelling salt was unbearable. He opened his eyes, the smell is gone as suddenly as it was there, and Chris smiling face was the first thing he saw.

“Yuuri! You can’t fall asleep in the middle of the competition! You are up soon!” Chris winked and the raven-haired skater scrambled to his feed, only to bend over in pain. His chest hurt… but he couldn’t remember why. And he felt dizzy. Did he missed a jump yesterday and had landed badly?

“Are you ok?” Chris asked.

“Oh… I am ok. Thank you, Christophe.” He mumbled and went his way back to the rink. The preparation room was mostly empty by now, only Viktor was there… and he had fucking wings! Yuuri forcefully shook his head, he was already through this phase. Things like this don’t exist. It would only bring him more uncomfortable sessions with a therapist. Viktor ignored him and Yuuri slowly stretched but the pain in his chest didn’t leave. It was bad. He felt ill but it could be his anxiety. Yes, he was sure it was the anxiety. Soon enough Celestino called for him, being glad that he appeared at all, and he was shooed off to the rink.  
Viktor followed silently, he had enough warmed up after a fight.

He met with Yakov, watching the skater before Yuuri skating his last seconds. Yakov grunted when Viktor silently took his place next to him.

“You reek of magic. What happened?” The coach muttered under his breath.

“The Japanese skater is most likely dying. A demon attacked him and I got between him and the human.” Viktor explained and his coach sighed.

“He had talent. Wasted and not brought out correctly. It is a shame.”

 “Oi, what are you two talking about?” Yuri Plisetsky interrupted and Viktor gave him a sad smile and looked back at the Japanese skater.

“No. Not him.” The Russian punk hissed. Viktor knew that the blond feline did like this human in particular but until now Viktor never had wasted a thought on him. Now he regretted it.

It was a disaster to watch but the Japanese man fought for every point.  
Yuuri felt even sicker when he left the rink and saw the sad smile that Viktor gave him. He ran off to the changing rooms, even if his chest hurt with every move he did, changed his clothes and went to the next best toilet to call his mother. He apologized for being a failure. His family did so much, they carried him through a hard time, and somehow managed his early skating career and he thanked them with being a disgrace. He shouldn’t have competed at all. He ended the call before his mother could try to cheer him up. He really didn’t want to hear this right now.  
Someone suddenly banged on the toilet stall and Yuuri jumped, wincing at the protest of his chest. Why did the pain not leave? Wasn’t it enough that he already failed twice today? Was this the punishment for being a failure at all?  
He opened the stall, muttering his apology only to get screamed at. He shook in fear at the junior world champion screaming at him to already retire and then running off, leaving him alone again in his thoughts. Maybe it was better to retire…  
Celestino found him later scrolling through the news as he sat in a hallway. The news gave him enough information that he placed last and it was most likely for him not to come back after a defeat like this. It hurt, it hurt badly that it seemed like everyone lost hope in him.

The next day he was completely down. He had taken some painkillers and had packed early on. He wanted to be back in his dorm room with Phichit and cry at his best friend’s shoulder like they used to do whenever one of them, mostly Yuuri, felt down. The sight of a poodle in a woman’s arm saddened him even more. Someone called his name, but when he looked up it was only Viktor passing by, talking to the Russian punk. He knew he was staring at them, but he couldn’t help but notice the wings on Viktor’s back, the feathers are black as the night but the tip of every feather was white, the wings looked a lot like a clear night-sky with its stars. The younger Russian on the other hand had a tail and ears. His hands were more like paws but still human-like formed. The tail angrily cut through the air behind the junior skater, showing that Yakov’s yelling did its job to rattle up the young skater.

It seemed like he had stared too long because Viktor had noticed his gaze and had turned around with his usual dazzling smile, asking for a photo together.  
Well, the Russian hadn’t seen this coming but Yuuri turned on his heels and headed for the exit, Celestino, and the reporter Moroka right behind him, asking why he ignored Viktor. He ignored them.

Back in America, Yuuri couldn’t find peace. His chest hurt more than 3 weeks but lucky him, he only had light training because of the upcoming exams.  
The day he returned, he believed that Phichit’s hamsters were little dragons. Just like their ‘fur’ used to be the three hamster sized dragons were bronze, silver, and gold in color, and every one of these little beats spitfire. Not hot enough to hurt or burn something, but enough to give him the chills at the sight of the small flame. Even their ‘cage’ seemed to be different than before, instead of sawdust littering their cage it looked like rocks were used as flooring for them and the small wooden houses replaced by a bigger rock with something that looked like a cave with shiny golden nuggets inside it.  
He told himself that it was a side effect of the painkillers.

Phichit, on the other hand, learned that evening, after he shoved a whole bottle of wine into Yuuri, that his best friend could see the true nature of magical things and it terrified the young Thai. This ability was only accessible by dying people.  
It had started with Phichit digging out their stash of alcohol from under his bed. He knew that Yuuri was more relaxed and open as soon as the alcohol would show its effect. Phichit’s best friend needed a bit to finally show the first signs of being drunk but Yuuri started to talk from himself.

 “Phichit…” He slurred, “I swear the world is against me. First Vicchan dies, then I feel like something attacked me and I flubbed my whole program. And god, do you know that Viktor …. Fucking Nikiforov has wings?!”

A cold shiver ran down the young Thai’s spine. And he used a small spell to sober up.

“You can see wings on Viktor? I mean, you worship him like nothing else, but wings?” Phichit asked carefully and Yuuri nodded eagerly, swaying a bit in the armchair from the alcohol.

“He looked like a god-damn angel. Black feathers and with white tips! They were huge and soooo beautiful.” The Japanese skater swooned and Phichit slowly went to the hamster/dragon cage and got one of his babies out. The silver-scaled reptile purred in its master’s hands and Phichit walked over to Yuuri who nearly jumped out of his own skin.

“I thought you have hamsters! Why are you torturing me with dragons! Phichit, don’t do this to me!” The raven-haired man cried, trying to get as far away from the little beast as possible. Phichit was sure that this was a bad sign. He petted his small magical lizard and sat him on his shoulder. The dragon curled its tail loosely around Phichit’s neck and lazily laid on its preferred place.

“You can see him? You can really see that he is a dragon?” The Thai skater asked, his voice shallow.

“Yeah. Ya know… I think I should go to bed. I am getting a headache.” Yuuri mumbled and headed to his room, leaving Phichit alone in his thoughts. He contacted Chris via DM in Instagram. They knew about each other being on their side of the world so it was easy for him to ask if Viktor has wings. Chris told him about Viktor being a Nephilim, a half-angel, and Phichit sighed sadly. He didn’t want things to go like this.

_Yuuri doesn’t deserve this._

Yuuri seeing their world was catastrophic. The magical world, also called ‘hidden world’ by those who know about it, was hidden by a spell so mighty that it separated humans from anything that came from either hell or heaven down to linger with the mortals but it offered these creatures to live under them, hiding their special traits from the humans. But the spell was younger than the fact that mythical creatures lived with humans on the same ground and so it was flawed. Humans remember a lot more than they believed, stories over dragons, elves, and so many more creatures were already anchored in their cultures and deep down in their souls they still search for the magic that once was a part of their world too, even if they couldn’t execute magic by themselves.  
But the hidden world didn’t disappear into the shadows just like this. Three groups of peoples were still able to see through the layer between the worlds.

The first group are the children. Kids up to the age of 3 or 4 are far too open minded being forced out by the spell. They can see unicorns where normal people only could see a horse, Pixies, where fireflies appeared for adults. They could see all kind of creatures but are unnoticed by them. The spell excludes them as soon as they start to ‘grow up’, only leaving hazy memories and dreams.

The second group was dying people of every age group. Their body was too weak and magic could seep into them, even if it was poison to them. But their weakened state draws demons to them.  
Demons who didn’t deny hell still dragged the souls down to the fields if they get their claws on a helpless human. The dead bodies are filling their stomachs and their lord would be pleased with them. Sometimes demons are bold enough to try to get a living person.

The third group was extinct. They were the reason why the ‘hidden world’ never tried to get back to be open for humans too. _Walkers among the worlds_ . These were the most dangerous ones. Gifted humans with the ability to see through the layer and be on par with their strongest fighters, once trained. _Walkers_ were completely healthy but often traumatized because of the way how they came in contact with their ability. And a tragic war killed the last of them.

It was obvious that Yuuri wasn’t a child anymore. And the _walkers_ were long gone. With the Japanese skater’s explanation of sudden pain in his chest before his skate in the GPF Phichit knew it was the second group. It only could be this. Did Yuuri already know and why didn’t he tell then?  
They knew each other for 4 years and were best friends so why didn’t he _see_ any changes in Yuuri at all?

Yuuri could see the change in his best friend too, fussing around him more than before, asking him if he was alright. The Japanese skater felt uncomfortable by all the attention Phichit gave him and after the failed Nationals he announced that he would retire. It saddened Phichit to see Yuuri retreating into himself and cutting of and connection to everything that made his life, but he wouldn’t stop his best friend to go home for his last days. It must be harder on him than Yuuri let on.

“You are facetiming me every day!” Phichit demanded the day they went to the airport together. Yuuri smiled at him and promised.

“And Yuuri… don’t forget about what you love! I mean, look at Stéphane Lambiel! He still skates and he is already retired! Or Viktor! He is way over the normal retire age.” Phichit tried to cheer him up and got a soft chuckle out of him.

“I’ll miss you too, Phich. Promise me to not bother Celestino too much, and watch out for your hamsters!” Yuuri told him and then vanished into the crowd.

Phichit was sure that this would be the last time he would see his friend personally. Silent tears rolled over his cheeks and he went off back to the dorm. Maybe it was time to return home for him too.

Yuuri was just glad to be finally home. Japan was at least not full of strange creatures, popping out everywhere. They were still there but not as much as he had seen in the last few months. He still denied that they exist but he couldn’t deny that they started to be aware of him.   
It gave him chills whenever he saw one of them following. He had no problems with ignoring little pixies, they were not much more than fireflies, but whenever he went in the parks to study dryads seem to appear on branches in treetops. Humans with animal features littered the streets to, but never had he seen an angel-like creature again.

Yuuri sighed when he saw the landscapes that passed by the train window change into familiar settings. He had missed Hasetsu so much. Homesickness wasn’t unfamiliar with him but back then when an offer of a stipend in America came he had to take it. Back then he was just the weird kid with dreams too big for his own shoulders to carry.But after everything that happened to him the past few months, he would rather be the strange man, helping in his family’s resort until he decided if he really wanted to retire or settle down, looking for a job he could do with his major.  
The train smoothly held in the Hasetsu main station and Yuuri buckled up his backpack and dragged his suitcase out of the train. He put his face mask over his mouth and tried to walk unnoticed through the crowds to the escalator that brought him down to the hallway. It was a mistake to look up from the ground, only to be greeted by his own eager face on posters of him, skating in front of Sakura trees.

“YUURI!” A loud voice called for him and he looked away from the posters, only to meet his happy smiling mentor and sensei. Minako… he was glad that she was there but already know that she meant trouble… trouble for him. She knew when he was troubled and already noticed his gloomy mood.  
Her welcome back was warm, even if it meant torture for him, but he would gladly go through it again, being forced by her to greet the people of Hasetsu who lingered around the train station. A lot of them knew that he was a known figure skater, others were harsh in their choice of words but nearly everyone greeted him back in Hasetsu.  
The raven-haired skater let himself being dragged away, he knew that Minako would bring him home eventually. She eagerly unfolds plans about a welcome back party and so on but Yuuri didn’t want this and tried to change the topic.

“What about your ballet classes?” He asked. Ballet was his second love, the first being figure skating. He even did ballet before he took the ice for the first time.  
Minako explained to him how everything in Hasetsu became slower and that people moved away, only leaving those who wanted to stick to their small town but with his return he might get people to come, or cheer the residents of Hasetsu up a bit.  
It made it only worse for him, after letting down everyone, losing at Nationals too and not being able to compete at the Four Continents Championship and World Championship.

“Minako-sensei… I am tired. I keep seeing things again and after everything… I just want to go home.” He told her, finally stopping her rant about him. Minako looked concerned at him and nodded. They walked together to Yu-Topia and Minako filled him in about what happened the past five years as much as possible. He listened to every word and smiled whenever she told him something funny that happened. Most of it happened with the Nishigori triples how seemed to grow up as skating fans. Yuuri made a mental note to visit Ice Castle as soon as he felt up to it, but right now he wanted to see his own family.

As soon as they reached the resort he felt a bit better. He said his greetings, pushing his suitcase out of the way and was greeted by his eager mother. Hiroko Katsuki thanked Minako for bringing her son home and she finally greeted him home. It warmed Yuuri’s heart and he apologized that he didn’t come to visit in five years. His mother told him that it was ok and asked if he wanted Katsudon. Yuuri could feel his stomach crumble in anticipation, being denied the wonderful dish for so long. Well… It seemed like Minako had seen something she didn’t like. She suddenly turned around and Yuuri could swear that her grey eyes became stormy. She grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket and forced two layers of clothing off him. It wasn’t like Yuuri had gained so much weight to be called Fatty. He was terrible out of shape after all the stress eating he did and the lack of real training. It helped him to get his thoughts on everything that bothered, at least for a short while.  
Minako complained a lot, but he was used to it. It wasn’t like she didn’t nag at him back when he was still a student under her.

He left them after some minutes of bickering to go to Vicchan’s shrine. He missed his dog a lot when he went to America and it saddened him even more that he couldn’t be there when Vicchan left the world. At least he could pay his respect to him.  
The room was separated and silent. It held a small shrine and Yuuri took his place in front of it, lighting up an incense stick. After a few minutes, the door to the room slipped open and Mari, Yuuri’s sister greeted him. Talking with Mari was always good. She wanted to know how long he wants to stay but he couldn’t give her a real answer. Mari was always supportive to him, from the very beginning she decided to stay back so her baby brother could climb high. Yuuri answered her honestly that he needed time to think over everything and she accepted it just like this.

“You should soak in the Onsen and relax a bit. You look tense.” She said and left him alone.  
The skater took her advice to heart and relaxed in the Onsen. At least here the statues were just like this, statues of creatures out of fairy tales. He had checked them. More than once.  
After the soak, he felt better. Good enough to have enough energy for Minako’s bickering about him failing to get her to Worlds to see all the ‘hot skaters’.

But then his words were lost in his throat when he saw coverage of Viktor in a hallway, focused on his moves. It looked like he repeated a step sequence, smoothly interpreting it as a dance instead a skate  
There were no wings on Viktor. He looked like a normal human being, as normal as a soon-to-be 5-times world champion could be. Yuuri didn’t know what to say anymore. Was it only his imagination? Maybe he should see a therapist again?  
He shook his head, forced these thoughts out of his head and went up to his room to get his gear. He really needed to get this out of his system and the best way for the raven-haired man was to skate.

He jogged down and out of the house, his mother shouted after him but at the end, she already knew where he was going to.  
The evening in Hasetsu was beautiful and calm as always. On his way to the rink he passed by a few stores and people, all of them were normal. Nothing looked like out of a fantasy book.  
He pushed the door to the entrance hall of Ice Castle Hasetsu open and was greeted by familiar sights. He grew up here, spending enough of his free time here to have it already declared as his second home. Yuuri fidgeted when he walked up to the counter to greet his childhood friend. Yuuko needed a second to know who was standing in front of her but she immediately welcomed him back and wanted him to call her like they used to do when they were younger.

They had a long story together. Yuuko brought him on the ice, after helping him against some bullies. And Yuuko believed in him, wanting him to tell her whenever a magical creature appeared in Hasetsu and telling her its story. Sometimes Yuuri thought she only did it to laugh at him, but she never did. It was their secret, and their bonding point, even when Takeshi entered in Yuuko’s life.

She always protected him.

And Ice Castle Hasetsu’s own Madonna has introduced him to Viktor and his skating.

This is what he was doing now. He wanted to skate to get his feelings expressed in a way he could. The raven-haired skater had trained this routine ever since he knew that he would end his contract with Celestino. He wanted to show this to Yuuko, the one who always supported him. And deep down he knew, Viktor would skate the very program he was about to skate in his free skate that happened right now. He took the starting position in the middle of the rink, and the music played in his head. His last cry to a world that didn’t make sense anymore.  
Yuuko was impressed and she listened to him like she always does. He told her how everything didn’t seem to make sense to him anymore, and when he asked her if she could remember his stories she already knows what was going on.

“I don’t really know what to believe anymore. Viktor Nikiforov looking like an angel? And Yuri Plisetsky like a cat-human? Phichit’s hamsters are suddenly dragons! Yuuko, this is like back then when we were just kids! What’s next? Pigs flying?” He rumbled and Yuuko tried to calm him down.

“It’s ok Yuuri! Are you still taking the medication for your anxiety? Maybe you should ask for another prescription? You know, I believe you. Mom always said that it could be a gift too, and I want to believe in it too! Maybe one day you’ll be a great fantasy author. ” She said and Yuuri nodded.

“Maybe this is it. They could be too strong and I am starting to see things. Thank you… I don’t think that seeing things is good. You remember how I was treated as a kid back in school. I don’t need skaters calling me weird too. ” He said and Yuuko smiled sadly at him.  
Axel, Lutz, and Loop took their chance to come out of their hiding, greeting him in their own childish ways, even if it threw Yuuri off his nostalgic mood. Takeshi had joined them too and they fussed around him and somehow, he found it funny how their friendship was unscratched, even after so many years of not being together.

The next day was slow. Yuuri spent it mostly helping around the Onsen and then took a soak afterward. He watched a report of the Russian team and he was frightened by the announcement that Yuri Plisetsky was already joining the Senior division. It only hurt his own self-esteem to see the young Russian perfectly execute jumps he shouldn’t be able to do at this age. He decided it was better for him to retreat to his room.  
Seeing all these posters refueled his wish to skate on the same level as Viktor. He didn’t want to be dead-last but try to beat the king of its throne. It was always his dream, to be acknowledged by his idol.

The messenger-ping of his smartphone ripped Yuuri out of his thoughts. It was a link to YouTube and when he opened it he nearly jumped out of his skin. That couldn’t be true. A video of him going viral is something he really didn’t want. Even worse, a video of him skating Viktor’s gold-winning routine.  
Takeshi tried to explain to him that he was sorry that his kids uploaded the video, but simply taking it down now wouldn’t do its job, Yuuri knew.

Yuuri truly just wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there forever.

* * *

Viktor, on the other hand, didn’t shy away from social contact, but even he needs a timeout every now and then, just a few moments for him where he could be himself without constantly keeping up his own mask.

It was far too long that he had properly walked with Makkachin, his brown standard A day off the ice wouldn’t kill him, most of all after another gold medal.  
He had taken Makkachin to the park twice that day and after that, he decided to relax on the couch, wings carefully placed so he wouldn’t put his weight on them, his loyal dog draped herself around him and he scrolled through the social medias. Chris had posted a picture of him making silly faces to his cat and earned himself a like from him. Viktor chuckled when Chris immediately sent him some Lenny-faces, asking him if he had already seen a video that went viral overnight in the skating community.

 

 

> Viktor Nikiforov
> 
>  No? Something I missed? 〣( ºΔº )〣

 

 

> Chris Giacometti
> 
>  You really didn’t see it? Our tragic demon-attracter is still out there~

 

 

> Viktor Nikiforov
> 
>  Now I am curious Σ(`･Д･ﾉ)ﾉ

 

 

> Chris Giacometti
> 
>  [link] _Yuuri Katsuki tries to skate Viktor Nikiforov’s Free Skate ‘Stammi Vicino’_
> 
>  I still ask myself why he can’t skate like this in a competition. He would wipe both of us out…
> 
>  (；￣Д￣）

 

 

> Viktor Nikiforov
> 
>  Give me a second to check this, k?

 

 

> Chris Giacometti
> 
>  Take your time ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

 

Viktor opened the link and immediately wrinkled his forehead. Yuuri looked good, he had gained weight, that was obvious but he seemed to be healthy.

_He is not dying_.

The thought lifted a weight off his shoulders and he watched the routine, his routine skated by the Japanese skater. And after the first time, he pressed replay.

And again.

The routine was skated completely without music what means that Yuuri had memorized it. Viktor couldn’t describe the feelings that emerged within him, someone skating to his program, themed on _longing_ and executed with a perfection no one else besides maybe himself could muster. Yuuri’s version was nearly exactly like his own, only the quad flip was replaced with a triple but for anyone who wasn’t as familiar with Viktor’s program like himself, it appeared to be the very same program.

 

 

> Viktor Nikiforov
> 
>  I am booking tickets to Japan

 

 

> Chris Giacometti
> 
>  Sure hon, greet him from me

 

 

> Viktor Nikiforov
> 
>  I am serious. I can’t explain it why he is still alive, he should be dead by now, but I am going.
> 
>  Did you see that step sequence?! He would have got a higher performance result than me;-;

 

 

> Chris Giacometti
> 
>  Everyone is talking about this! Vik, watch out for him, there are rumors that he is retiring.

 

Viktor clutched his phone to his chest. Whatever secret Yuuri held, he wanted to know it. Viktor jumped up from the couch, kicking Makkachin off it too, and earning himself ‘the _Judgment_ ™’, and he runs off to his bedroom to get his laptop. For him every second that the thing needed to start up was a second wasted but as soon as it was up he booked the next best flight to Japan.

_I don’t know where he lives._ He groaned inwardly and hoped that Wikipedia had something on the raven-haired man. Luck was with him and the page gave him the information that he grew up in a town named Hasetsu, Kyushu in the Saga Prefecture. A train held directly in the town so he shouldn’t have a problem to get there, but where exactly did he life?

Viktor tried to google Yuuri again, this time another result that interested popped up.

_Yu-Topia Katsuki_

He couldn’t read the webpage, it was completely in Japanese, but the address was easily found out. The town was small enough to walk there without problems.

_You’ll need time to find out what makes him special. How will you explain it to everyone that you just went off to Japan for someone who declared himself a dime-a-dozen skater?_

The silver-haired man knew he could say to Yakov that he lost inspiration and would use the timeout in Japan to get it back. He could say that he would help Yuuri out, but how?Yuuri had no coach, Viktor remembered. And with some charm and his own nature to do what he liked he could get the man to return to their shared sport. Viktor had the know how to skate, this wouldn’t be a problem. Everything else should be easy, at least Yakov let it look like it was easy.It was a solid plan. He might force himself on the poor Japanese man who wouldn’t see him coming, but his own curiosity and the secret wish to see Yuuri compete on the level he showed in the video got him on the path of no return.  
It was all arranged by late evening. He had called an express-moving company that would pack his stuff in his apartment the next day and immediately ships it to Japan, only leaving the furniture back he surely wouldn’t need there.  
With his suitcase stuffed, Makkachin’s papers in his jacket and his dog on a leash he left his apartment behind. On his way, out he called Yakov, only to get voicemail. He knew his coach would try to stop him, but he was dead-set on going. Makkachin bounced on her leash when he walked with her to the airport, maybe he would grab a taxi for the rest of the way because it was getting colder with the harsh Russian wind blowing through the streets. But Yakov seemed to have listened to the voicemail and stopped him halfway to the airport.

“Viktor, what are you doing? Is this about the video Yura was angry about? Until today you thought Katsuki was dead and now you are rooting yourself up to get behind any strange secrets?!” Yakov barked and the silver-haired man shook his head with a smile.

“It is so much more than this. Could you please bring me and Makkachin to the airport? My flight is going in two hours.” He asked and Yakov grunted, still angry. They got into the small car and tuckered to the airport.

“I don’t support this. You know that leaving the sports to know will look like you’ll retire.” The old man grumbled and for the first time in a while, he looked more like the dwarf he was, grumpy, red-faced and old.

“And Viktor… You know the legends. Don’t let yourself be fooled by him or used at all. If he should turn out what he is it will only hurt you.” Yakov warned but knew that it would only land on deaf ears. Viktor would most likely NOT listen to him. As soon as they reached the airport Viktor thanked him and left Yakov in another wave of rage with a quick ‘ _Dasvidaniya’._

* * *

The flight was quiet and quick. It was still early morning when they landed and Viktor took the first train possible to Hasetsu. The scenery was beautiful and a bit before he reached his destination it started to snow.

Hasetsu greeted him with a still nearly empty train station. He couldn’t read the signs but bless a smartphone with GPS function.

Yu-Topia welcomed him with its traditional façade. He was greeted warmly by someone called Mari, she would take over his check in because she was the most fluent in English of the staff working here.

“I know who you are.” She told him after the check in and he was surprised. It seemed like his face spoke more than he intended and Mari smiled slightly. “My brother… He is a fan ever since he saw you skating in a Junior competition. I don’t know much, but he has a ton of fan-stuff of you. Don’t tell him that I told you that.”

Viktor could swear his cheeks were dusted with a light pink and she laughed at him, explaining that he could relax in the Hot-Baths, called Onsen, and later could get something to eat.

“Ah, and your dog? You can leave her here. We are used to dogs and had one smaller than yours too. Don’t worry about her.” She told him and Viktor thanked Mari for the offer. The silver-haired champion left Makkachin with the head of the Katsuki family who greeted him in broken English and fawned over the poodle. Makkachin loved that kind of attention so she would be in good hands.

From previous visits in Japan, Viktor knew that nudity was nothing uncommon here, and he wasn’t ashamed to show off his body. The outside bath was still empty and he used the open space to fully stretch his wings. He wouldn’t regret coming here, he could feel it already.

“Yuuri! Wake up and help with the snow!” Mari called her brother from outside his room and he groaned. He definitely wasn’t a morning person.

“Yuki?” He mumbled and slowly turned around in his bed to open the curtains. He was greeted by the blooming Sakura trees being covered in a layer of snow. It was way too late in the year for snow.

Another groan left him and he forced himself out of his bed and into his winter clothes. He went down to the entrance and got a shovel out of a cabinet and opened the door to go outside. He was suddenly attacked by a brown blur and landed on his ass. A dog was pawing at his chest, happily wagging its tail. He sat up and looked at the poodle that strongly reminded him of Vicchan. But this dog was way too big for Vicchan.

“Good morning Yuuri! Doesn’t she look a lot like Vicchan? She came with a handsome foreigner.” His father told him and Yuuri scrambled to his legs. He only could imagine one handsome stranger with a brown standard poodle. He guessed that said man was in the hot-springs and raced towards them, ignoring the strange glances and mutterings from their regular guests when he sprinted full clothed through the bathing area. He pushed the door to the outside area open, stumbled out and landed face first on the ground, only to jump back on his feet, looking at the only person using the bath.  
Viktor Nikiforov was there, at his family’s resort, completely nude and with wings larger than the man himself behind him. Viktor seemed to notice him and stood up, a blinding smile plastered his face and he posed like a model like the nudity wasn’t a problem to him. The hot water dripped from the black wings with the white tipped feathers in cascades down, not soaking them at all. Viktor shined in his full pride and the words that left him made Yuuri tremble.

“Yuuri, from today on, I am your coach!” The legendary skater declared.

_Yuuri.exe stopped running_


	2. Chapter 2

Viktor refused to expand his bath in the onsen and stepped out of the water. Yuuri realized that a tad too late, that Viktor was indeed not bothered that he would show his crotch to open display, and blushed in a lovely shade of red before he scrambled to get one of the onsen robes for the Russian. The younger skater led Viktor to their common room where Hiroko already waited and she placed a tray of food in front of Viktor. Yuuri just stared at him, devouring the food with gusto, not caring that stray rice stuck on his cheeks.  
He left Viktor a moment alone to bring the empty plates to the kitchen. There Yuuri’s mom winked at him, not hiding the bright smile, silently telling him that this was a chance to get his dreams coming true. But his mother’s good mood didn’t reach him as much so he went back to staring at Viktor, who had already curled himself around Makkachin and slept on the floor. Yuuri gulped, the floor was hard, but it didn’t seem to bother the silver-haired Russian… most of all were the wings missing now. Yuuri still wondered if it was his own brain playing tricks again.

The ruckus in the entrance-hall didn’t seem to bother the sleeping man. Minako’s shouting maybe could have been heard through all Hasetsu, but soon she just looked at Viktor like something really bad happened. She was demanding an explanation why Viktor laid there, on the floor, in Yu-Topia robes but it was more of a rhetorical question. She explained how it was big news in Russia’s figure skating scene that Viktor went to coach _him_ of all people. No pressure indeed. Yuuri could only go back to staring at his idol who was still content with sleeping next to Makkachin, pressing his fingers in her curls.

A sneeze finally woke the legendary skater and Yuuri nearly shrieked when his wings magically reappeared on his back. Viktor turned to his starring audience and muttered that he was hungry. For Yuuri, he didn’t look like an angel, but a fucking beautiful siren, the robes fell from one shoulder and showing delicate skin, Makkachin pressed to his chest who didn’t seem to care. These looks could command the straightest of all men to obey Viktor’s order in Yuuri’s eyes.  
Minako just deadpanned.

“He still wants to eat?” She muttered like it was Yuuri’s fault that the Russian is starving. Embarrassed Yuuri asked what he wanted to eat, only to blush deeply when Viktor asked ‘as his coach’ to eat his student's favorite dish. Of course, Yuuri sprinted back into the kitchen to get his mother. Minako meanwhile studied Viktor and let a small snort escape. And of course, Viktor was one of the magical world. It explained why Yuuri was avoiding watching worlds with her or fanboying lately.

“I am Viktor Nikiforov!” Viktor greeted her and she nodded.

“I know. Minako Okukawa, Yuuri’s godmother, ballet teacher and the one who encouraged him to ice skating.” She introduced herself and watched how Viktor’s eyes widened when he realized how old she must have been to be all of that.

“You are one of us?!” He questioned and she gave him a hard glare.

“Not so loud, would you?! Yeah, and if you want to know more and have some time to spare, come to my place and I will tell you.”

“Did you know that Yuuri was attacked by a demon? You know how he is still alive?” Viktor whispered loud enough for her to understand him across the table and now it was time for Minako to stare at him in surprise.

“No, I didn’t know but we have to discuss this another time. My place, whenever you can spare some time.” She muttered, just before Yuuri came back with his mother who happily presented the Russian with an extra-large bowl of Katsudon. Viktor’s eyes shone with excitement to try something new and melted with the first bit. Minako was free enough to mention that Yuuri had trouble maintaining a constant weight and Viktor put salt into Yuuri’s mental wound when he crudely asked why he ate Katsudon when he didn’t win anything recently.

Thankfully Mari rescued the situation, telling them that Viktor’s belongings from Russia already came.

“Can you take it to the room where I’ll be staying?” The legendary skater asked and the older Katsuki sibling sighed, demanding Yuuri to help her. They didn’t know that Viktor had planned to stay there longer, Yuuri expected that Viktor would take him to Russia to train there like he did with Celestino in America, but it seemed like the Russian made arrangements to get nearly everything from his home here and now Yuuri carried box after box into the old banquet room where Viktor would surely have enough place. Normally Yu-Topia isn’t like a bed and breakfast, or hotel. They were an inn for people to relax and eat, nothing more, but they were prepared thanks to family friends staying over every now and then.

Viktor decided to join Yuuri going upstairs when the younger man carried the last cardboard box the Viktor’s room and huffed when he finally sat it down. He ignored the older skaters excited talking in favor of catching his breath, only to hear him ask about a sofa and saying that he will collect his coaching fees sometimes later. And then Viktor came into Yuuri’s personal space, demanding to know everything, about Hasetsu, his career and so on. The raven-haired man blushed when something deep within him purred at the contact the Russian made, cupping his chin on of his hands, and trying to hold his other. It purred even deeper when Viktor’s wings circled them, shielding them from the outside world a little bit. And this purring frightened Yuuri. He scrambled back, his blush deepening when he fled from Viktor in his room. He threw himself on his bed, hiding beneath his warm and soft blankets and fishing his phone from somewhere.

Yuuri Katsuki

> Phichit help…

 

Yuuri didn’t think his best friend would answer asap. It was late in Detroit but then… He remembered that Phichit said something about moving back to Thailand, taking Celestino with him…

Hamsteroverlord

>  Is it about Vikhot? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

Yuuri Katsuki

> Ya

 

Hamsteroverlord

> I am concerned… You didn’t deny the nick Σ(‘◉⌓◉’)  
>  He is srsly with u?

 

Yuuri Katsuki

> Ya  
>  He is touchy feely

 

Hamsteroverlord

> So far already ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

Yuuri Katsuki     

> I hate u  
>  He asked me to tell him everything about me…  
>  Who I am to tell him my life story (-人-。)

 

Hamsteroverlord

> Katsuki get your shit together and tell that boi what he wants ヽ(♯｀Д´)ﾉ
> 
>  

Yuuri ignored Phichit’s following messages on purpose. He should have known that Phichit wouldn’t be the best help. Phichit was, just like his sister and Minako, one of the active shippers ever since he confessed that he had an idol-crush on Viktor back when he was just a teen.

“Yuuri, let’s sleep together!” Viktor asked and banged on his door and he panicked. He jumped from his bed to his door, not giving Viktor the chance to come in before he locked it and getting down the posters of said Russian. After some minutes it looked like Viktor gave up for the day and he sighed, looking at the posters in his hands that showed his long-time idol and goal without the beautiful black wings that were such a contrast to his hair. He put them away in a box underneath his bed and made himself ready to finally go to bed.

It truly warmed his heart that Viktor chooses to train him of all people.

They had a small breakfast in the morning… It looked like Viktor had already plans for his diet because his mother didn’t bring him his usual breakfast but a very light version of it. He crumbled at the sight but watched Viktor eating the same so he gave up on his silent grudge against the healthy food and shoveled it down and got ready afterward to start his training, seeing how Viktor was already ready and had asked if they have a bike he could ride.

It ended with Yuuri running after Viktor and Makkachin who effortlessly were ahead of him and he struggled to not get side-stitching. The Russian greeted the local folks who greeted back in amusement, seeing their athlete struggle to keep up. It didn’t take them too much time to reach Ice Castle Hasetsu. It was their luck that the whole Nishigori family was there and fussed around Viktor as soon as he claimed to be Yuuri’s coach. The younger skater took the chance to slip away but Viktor caught up to him and changed into some simple training clothes.

“You are not going to skate today, Yuuri,” Viktor said and Yuuri was about to protest but the Russian was already gone and chatted with the Nishigori family again. Yuuri sighed and walked to the rink and took the guards from Viktor when he stepped on the ice.

“Any wishes?” He asked smiling brightly. Yuuko asked if he could skate _Stammi Vicino_ for them and the legendary skater nodded. Yuuri grabbed the small speakers and connected them to his phone, waiting for Viktor’s signal to start. The Russian skated to the middle and looked down to the ice. It looked a lot like he let his wings hang down on purpose, dangerously close to the sharp blades of his skates. The feathers brushed the ice and when started to skate he used his wings in majestic ways. The sight alone would kill every normal human’s presentation scores.  
Yuuri had to remind the triplets that this was their private show and nothing of this is allowed to land on the internet. Yuuko would make sure that no mistakes are happening.

During Viktor’s skate, Takeshi wanted to know what they were dealing with and Yuuri explained to him how Viktor wanted to claim Ice Castle as their home-rink during the season and if it was ok with them. It didn’t seem like this would be a problem, Nishigori is more than excited that Yuuri’s dreams are coming true.  
And once again Viktor burned him, telling him he needs to lose weight before he is allowed to even think about stepping one foot on the rink.  But Yuuri knew he was right. The risk to hurt himself was too high with added weight.

After that, he was dismissed. Viktor would choreograph a program for him until he was back to a good weight and Yuuri has to train until then in every way possible, so he started in the rink’s gym room with Takeshi and with the day going on he went to Minako to get a rigorous training from her, getting once again lessons in ballet and other dances. She scolded him, but in a way that brought back his courage, reminding him that it was his choice to keep skating and that Viktor was his opportunity to finally have a breakthrough.

They fell into a routine. Every second Yuuri could spare, he would train with either Minako, Takeshi or Viktor. Viktor would try to get close to him, but Yuuri would reject him every time.  
Spring finally arrived and the Sakura trees blossomed. The weather was great, not too hot or too cold so he wouldn’t freeze or overheat on long runs or climbing. Viktor often took the chance to see Hasetsu with Yuuri when they jogged through the neighborhood together, finding places where he could rest and his student getting his strength back.  
One of these places was a park with benches. Yuuri used them to do jumps and Viktor caught his breath after a long jog. The silver-haired man admired Yuuri’s stamina once again because the younger skater didn’t take this as a chance for a break. But he wanted to fill the silence they fell in so he asked about Yuuri’s feelings to Minako, what kind of girls he preferred and if he had any past lovers, ignoring the strange pain in his chest.  
Yuuri kept denying his questions, for didn’t want to answer at all. Viktor once again felt like he couldn’t get to crack the mystery Yuuri and sighed in defeat, ignoring the awkward silence that was between them now. Makkachin’s barking was a great chance, seeing a huge castle when he turned around to look after his dog Viktor asked what this building was for.

“Oh, that is Hasetsu Castle. Inside is a ninja house.” Yuuri said.

“Really? Ninja?” The silver-haired man asked surprised and faster than Yuuri could explain that it was it was only a tourist trap Viktor already dragged them up there.

“Yuuri! Yuuri take a photo of me and Makkachin!” He demanded excited, and the younger man took the Russians mobile and stepped back a few meters to get Viktor, Makkachin and the castle at a good angle.

_Bless Phichit and teaching him how to take good photos._

But when Yuuri looked onto the screen he knitted his forehead. He feared that Viktor’s huge wings would cover most of the background and when he looked over the phone they were still there, but on the screen, they disappeared. He didn’t know what was going on, looking over the phone and back on the screen. Viktor got impatient and his smiling face turned sour.

“Common Yuuri! I didn’t know you are a picky photograph. Just take one of me and Makkachin, she doesn’t want to stay anymore.” The Russian whined and Yuuri finally took a photo and gave Viktor his mobile back.

It didn’t take long for the photo to land on social media and by the time evening hit, Yu-Topia got calls from around the world, asking for Viktor Nikiforov and an explanation. Yuuri had to hide back in his room, shutting all his social media down but the next days promised to be hell. Media swarmed the inn and Viktor dragged him to the rink at a ridicules hour to avoid them. They kept training, some days they wouldn’t show up at the rink, risking that the reporters would find out where their save place was. But it didn’t take long until the reporters caught wind where the Ice Castle was and waited there the next day. They swarmed the rink, asking the Nishigori a lot of questions but this time Viktor came and talked with them.

Little did he know that a storm in form of an angry teenager appeared soon in Hasetsu.  
And the first one who was caught in it was none other than Yuuri who had just finished his morning run. He happily muttered more to himself he finally reached his competition weight and out of nothing he got kicked into the for public closed entrance to the rink. Landing head first on the desk wasn’t what the raven-haired wanted to start his first skating training, and someone booting him was even worse. He looked up into the angry face of one Yuri Plisetsky who’s cat-like blond ears were pressed against this head. A tail flicked at the corner of Yuuri’s eyes and he knew something bad was going to happen. He had wished that the cat-like features were only imaginations of his brain back in Sochi, but Plisetsky was different from normal humans too. Finally, the blond seemed to have a moment of mercy and allowed Yuuri to stand up, explaining why he was there at all.

The angry Russian teen was too smug for Yuuri’s ego, trashing it into a small ball but something within him was still proud enough to let him held his head high during the teenager’s rant. He led them to the rink where Viktor was skating a choreography. It seemed like Viktor skating took a lot of wind out of the smaller Russian’s sail because when he saw his old rink-mate skating effortlessly he explained to Yuuri why Viktor took the chance at all to come to Japan.

_“If you don’t have any inspiration left, you’re as good as dead.”_

The teen ruined the somber moment when he declared he would win the season and ignored Yuuri’s question to fall back into his teenage anger with shouting at his fellow Russian. Viktor was surprised to see Yuri Plisetsky here and it looked a lot like that the teenager hated the silver-haired man for forgetting something. Yuuri had to step away from the angry teen, avoiding the wildly flicking puffy tail and the hissing teen when Viktor came off the ice.  
Russia’s punk trembled in anger during Viktor’s apologies and it didn’t look like he would accept it that easily. Yuuri just watched their exchange and his bad feeling became even worse when Yuri demanded that Viktor would come back to Russia to choreograph him his senior debut program.

Something was about to shatter within the Japanese skater but Viktor was decent enough to say that he would give both a chance. They would skate to the same arrangement. The Russian Yuri hissed loudly, showing dangerous large and sharp canines but Yuuri ignored them. He knew that his fellow Yuri would beat him with his technical points by far. But it seemed like the young Russian knew that Yuuri wouldn’t go down without a fight too.  
Doing it in front of an audience would destroy him. He knew his anxiety would kick in, he knew with both Yuri and Viktor being _different_ than normal humans that it was impossible to ignore his childhood traumas too. And worst of all, the triplets would help Viktor to make a spectacle out of Yuuri’s defeat. He hated it.

After Viktor finished to change he brought them back to Yu-Topia. Hiroko and Toshiya greeted Yuri like he was already a member of their family but they were in a dilemma for a room for the teenager.  
The only room left was walk-in closet to Viktor’s room and the older Russian was more than eager to offer it to the teenager when Yuri declared that he would stay at Yu-Topia too.  
Yuuri knew, in this case, no one would listen to him anyway.  
A little bit later Yuri got the nickname Yurio from Mari who demanded that Yuuri would help her to move the things out of Yuri’s small room. The raven-haired skater had enough, seeing how happily Viktor and Yurio chatted with each other. He knew he had to up his game, that he was by far not good enough to beat someone with more potential than him.

He stormed off and Viktor was left alone in Yurio’s company, who soon enough dozed off on the table, well fed and happily purring. When Mari came to get the dishes he naturally asked her where Yuuri was. His student never came back to chat with them but Mari explained how he did this sometimes, leaving to find a way to get out of the way of stress and pressure.

“At a time like this, he’d be at Minako’s place or Ice Castle.” She told them like it was the most normal thing to do for her brother. It left a bitter taste in the older Russian’s mouth, seeing that he might have driven the Japanese man away from him, so he went to look after him. Strangely Makkachin wasn’t there and normally his trusty dog wouldn’t go away without anyone she trusted. Another reason to look after Yuuri because Makkachin was most likely with him.

It took Viktor a while to find Minako’s place. He wondered why Yuuri would go to a bar but sometimes people drank their problems away, even if Yuuri didn’t strike him like someone who drank on a regular basis. The brunette ballerina greeted him and offered him a drink he gladly took.

“Is Yuuri here? He left suddenly and I think Makkachin was following him.” He asked her but Minako shook her head.

“Normally, when someone refers Yuuri and ‘my place’ they mean my ballet studio. But he isn’t there or I would know. Yuuri isn’t a drunk and avoids alcohol most of the time. Whenever he gets anxious he always wants to practice. You should try Ice Castle, they let him skate anytime if it isn’t booked already.” She explained and Viktor nodded.

“I finally found some time to spare!” He remembered her and she nodded.

“Yes… Yuuri most likely will be spending some hours there even if it is late. You want to know what I am, am I right Nephilim?” She asked and her tone got dangerous enough for Viktor getting goosebumps.

“I would like to know that and so much more!” He breathed and Minako nodded. The door suddenly shut behind them and if it wasn’t for Viktor knowing strange things he would have jumped.

“I am a witch. Far older than most believe.” She told him and Viktor nodded.

“That would explain why Mrs. Katsuki calls you sempai even if you look still like someone in their early 30s.”

“Don’t get cocky Viktor. Do you want to know why Yuuri is less affected by the attack than you believe? Well then tell me what happened in Sochi and I tell you what I know about him.” Minako offered to trade and Viktor took it. He told her every little detail of the two days of their finals when he started to recognize the raven-haired skater. He told her about the demon asking if he didn’t want to join his family into death and how confused Yuuri seemed when he told the demon that no one died.

“That isn’t 100 percent true. Someone dear to Yuuri died that day and that monster wanted to take it as an advantage over him.” Minako muttered and Viktor gave her an asking look.

“I don’t know how much the Katsukis told you about their dog, but they used to have one that’s why they welcome Makkachin so openly. Yuuri always wanted a poodle as a young teenager and he already struggled a lot back then so they got him Vicchan. He was a toy poodle that died in an accident the day of Yuuri’s free skate.” She told him and Viktor gulped. Now he understood why Yuuri looked so down.

“But that wouldn’t attract demons?!” The Russian Nephilim questioned and Minako nodded.

“That is another story. I think it has to be something from Yuuri’s childhood finally showing effects. I told him it was risky.” Minako muttered and Viktor perked up.

“What?”

“You have to know… Yuuri was always a bit special, in a way or another, and I used to have a boyfriend back then. He was a guardian angel.”

* * *

_Haraiso Mamoru appeared the first time in Hasetsu’s hospital during Yuuri’s birth, declaring to be a doctor and somehow, he was in the system. He was the one who helped Hiroko through the birth which took its time. No one thought it would be a complicated birth but Yuuri wasn’t breathing the moment he entered the world. Mamoru did everything to get the newborn child to breath and Yuuri breathed._

_Minako was the only one to see through him and she demanded to know why he was here of all places a guardian could choose. She cornered him and Mamoru calmed her down with a sweet shy smile, saying that he only wanted to look after someone who had a hard road ahead of him.  
She let him and somehow, they fell in love, Mamoru becoming the godfather as they declared to be a thing together and Hiroko was still glad that the man rescued her precious son._

_Mamoru was a caring man, he didn’t behave like one of heaven’s soldiers, and brought joy to little Yuuri’s life. Minako and he often took the siblings to the beach or the studio when things got busy at Yu-Topia and she would often watch how the tall angel with the pure white feathers would goof with a toddler and his pre-school sister in the sand. Yuuri often roughly grabbed s a hand full of feathers but the big oaf wouldn’t scold the child.  
Mamoru guided Yuuri through the first four years of his childhood like a second father, even if the child still returned to Toshiya who loved his kids just as much. He was ‘uncle Mamoru’ to them._

_But not everything could end in a happy end and so didn’t Mamoru’s story._

_The whole Katsuki family and the pair wanted to spend the hottest day of the year on the beach, closing Yu-Topia for that, and the children played in the sand near the water. They knew how to swim after Hiroko insisted that her children would learn it when they lived to close to the sea, so it was no wonder that one of them wanted to take a dip into the sea. It was just a moment they didn’t watch and Yuuri was gone. Mamoru was the first one who noticed, mere seconds after the child went to the water and he jumped to his feet, hearing the luring voices of sea monsters near the shore._

_“Minako. Whatever happens now, remember that I love you.” He told her and took off, his majestic wings carrying him over the beach, no one saw it because they looked after Yuuri in the crowd. Mamoru dived down into the waves and didn’t emerge for minutes. Naturally, Minako worried. Even if Yuuri was in the sea, being underwater so long would kill him. Yuuri was a human child!_

_Minutes passed and the moment she started to panic Mamoru reappeared with Yuuri in his arms, the child still, most likely drowned. Tears pooled in her eyes when Mamoru pressed the small kid to his bare chest that was covered in fresh wounds. Yuuri didn’t breath.  
“Dear, get his parents, I will guide him back,” Mamoru muttered, a strange sternness in his voice and she scrambled to get them._

_When she returned, far ahead of the worried Katsukis, Mamoru commanded Yuuri to life. The angel kissed the child’s temples and sang low and deeply and after some moments Yuuri coughed up chunks of water, gasping for air. But it still seemed wrong. Minako knew that everything had a price with magic, even for an angel. Mamoru looked up at her, tired but happy smiling when a crying Hiroko cradled her whimpering child in her arms. The mother thanked him deeply._

_That night Mamoru said his farewell._

* * *

 

“He gave his life for the one of a child. The first time he demanded Yuuri to life it was at the child’s own will, so it didn’t cost him but then… He blessed Yuuri and commanded him to live, ending his own life on earth. Before you ask, I would never hold this against Yuuri or the Katsukis. Mamoru loved Yuuri like his own son and he was his guardian after all.” Minako ended her story. Viktor was stunned and realized just know that cold shivers ran down his spine. The thought of Yuuri not being here… It would be a dull world.

“Whatever a blessing is doing to a human child, no one knows because it was the last and only one after the purge of the _Walkers_ that was recorded. But I know that Yuuri can still see our world. Or he used to see it. A lot of his anxiety results from that because the other children used to laugh at him, telling him he was an airhead and bullying him for his weight. Ice skating and dancing was the only thing he ever felt like he could be good enough.”

“So… whatever Mamoru did, could have caused Yuuri to become a _Walker among the Worlds?”_ Viktor asked her and Minako shrugged.

“I might be a witch but I can’t detect how much magic one possesses and Yuuri doesn’t want to talk about it, or that it might have returned after Sochi.” She said and the Russian nodded. That was a lot to think about.

“Anyway… thanks for the story. I might understand him a bit better now.” Viktor muttered and she raised a brow.

“Do you?” She asked when he left and Viktor went to Ice Castle next. He was greeted by Takeshi who brought him into the small office where Makkachin greeted him happily. The somber feeling passed and he petted his dog. Yuuko and Takeshi explained to him that Yuuri used to spent a lot of his time training his skills and now he saw that Yuuri was no prodigy like him or little Yura, he had to hone his skills in hard work for hours and hours on the ice. And if Viktor respected something, it was hard work. He watched Yuuri lazily skating figures and thought how he could play the raven-haired skater’s strength in the upcoming.

“A magic spell to change the little piggy into a prince…” he muttered. It looked like Yuuri would never fully be just a human after his fate was decided by his guardian so many years back and that moment he swore to himself that he would take over. He would take over for Mamoru and now Minako to watch over Yuuri. His ways might not be the most orthodox way, but he knew something good would come from this. Maybe Yuuri might even tell him how much he is part of the hidden world. Until then he wouldn’t assume that he was like the other _Walkers_.

He left Yuuri to himself and took Makkachin with him. When he finally reached his room Yurio waited there, growling deeply.

“I hope you didn’t give the piggy a private lesson. And you stink off alcohol.” The teenager said.

“Now, now Yura. I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“You know, he stinks. Gramps warned me of his kind. I thought back then in Sochi he would die with all the magic he takes in. Now he is reeking of it like a damn _Walker_ and you still want to teach him?” Yurio hissed and Viktor stepped back of the teen, his own inner creature rearing its head, ready to defend them should the feline attack.

“I know but no one knows what he really is. Yura… He is blessed by an angel. The local witch believes that it could be an effect from back then.” He told the teen. Viktor watched in horror how the teen's anger caused to change him more and more.

“And you chase after him because you can’t find your goddam mate?! Just because he is blessed doesn’t make him less of a _Walker._ Don’t forget who slaughtered so many of our kind. You are a fucking guardian between the worlds and won’t stop a threat right before you? I will crush him Viktor. Crush the little self-esteem he has left.” The were-cat hissed, his tail wiping dangerously and claws flexing, ready to pounce his prey.

“Enough!” Viktor demanded and Yuri growled dangerously but retreated.

“You don’t have a right to do this Yuri. Unlike you, all his skill comes from training until his feet bleed and he still continued. I want to see you in his place.” Viktor said coldly, his wings dangerously ruffled and his hands trembled in anger. The Russian teenager spat at him but left for good and Viktor huffed. They would see.

The next morning seemed to start like any other morning just this time Yurio joined them. Viktor was sad that Yuuri fell back on purpose and left him with the bickering teen but he could understand it. Yurio gave off an aura of aggression and even Viktor would avoid him if he wouldn’t be the one in charge of Yurio until the teen would fly back to Russia. At least the older Yuri seemed to be readier for the challenge than yesterday.

In the rink, Viktor presented them first with _Agape_ , a song that was clear and innocent in its way, a song about unconditional love. The second arrangement was completely different. An upbeat sound that promised something. Something completely the opposite of _Agape_ , sexual love. Even if Yurio has no experience in anything sexual the teenager demanded to have this arrangement and Yuuri was more than happy to try himself at _Agape._

But Viktor didn’t ask them.

So Yuuri ended up with _Eros_ and Yurio would have to skate to _Agape,_ getting both of them alarmed but Viktor declared that it was necessary so they could surprise people. He pegged down Yurio’s pride with this move and hoped that he fired their will to fight up. It looked a lot like it already helped for Yurio who demanded that their challenge would come with a prize for the winner.  
The Russian punk demanded that Viktor would coach him as his prize so it was only fair that Yuuri could ask for one too.

Unlike Yuri, he didn’t demand Viktor tocoach him. It was the reason why the legendary skater was here at all. He just wanted to win, to eat Katsudon _WITH_ Viktor. It surprised both Russian skaters but Yuuri declared that he would do everything to win and eat Katsudon _with_ him, so he is going to skate to _Eros_ just to realize this wish.

Viktor’s eyes shone brightly and he smiled as a warmth spread through his chest that heated his cheeks after Yuuri’s declaration.


	3. Chapter 3

Viktor shooed them from the ice and pressed the remote to the small player into Yuuri’s hands, trusting him to start the music when he signalized that he was ready. Both Yuris took their place behind the rink barrier, leaning slightly over the railing and watching Viktor doing some warm-up laps. Yuuri marveled over Viktor’s grace and questioned how the man can still be so skilled and do jumps with the additional weight of massive wings like his own. The black wings were neatly folded on his back but they were still bigger than him, towering a foot or two over his already tall frame and the tips of the wings ended just above his ankles.

Viktor skated to the middle of the rink and nodded in their direction.

“First: Yurio’s Agape,” he said and brought himself into position, ignoring the growling teen. Yuuri waited until Viktor completely stilled and started the music. And the Russian pulled of a program worth of an angel. It was pure and selfless, traits that seemed to fit the man even if the whole world knew that Viktor Nikiforov was neither pure nor selfless. Yuuri knew if the others could see what Viktor was, could see him slightly spreading his wings when he marked an artistic point in the program… He shook his head. No, he didn’t want others to see what he saw. He wanted to be selfish on more time and fight to claim this angel for himself.

“I can do it,” Yurio said nonchalantly when Viktor asked the teen how it was. Yuuri sighed inwardly at the teen. Yurio had nothing of an angel… he was a hellcat with sharp claws and pointed teeth and would need a lot of self-control to pull off the right feeling.  
Viktor seemed a bit more enthusiastic to show off the other program when he asked Yuuri to start the music. This time he had nothing of a pure being. Viktor lured his audience into one of the sins, lust, and executed the program with hot passion. Deep within Yuuri, something growled possessive, wanting to push Yuri and Yuuko out of the rink and have Viktor’s performance and the man for him alone. The way he used his wings as if he knew that Yuuri could see them and the way it looked so effortless had the raven-haired skater in his grip and it dominated his thoughts.

He didn’t remember when Viktor called him on the ice, or if he stepped on it without the Russian’s command. He was flustered when Viktor asked him about how he liked the program and he nearly shied away from the suddenly playful man.

“Which quads can you land?” Viktor asked and Yuuri had to admit that his quad repertoire was limited to the toe loop and the salchow which he only can land in practice but he promised he would give his best to get them right. It didn’t seem enough because Viktor declared that Yuuri would retrain the basics first, meanwhile, he would train Yurio. Yuuri could swear that the smugness rolled off the Russian teen.  
Naturally, Viktor noticed that something was holding Yuuri down.

“I know that you can win,” Viktor said, “So what is bothering you?”

“I… I lack the confidence.” He admitted and Viktor nodded, his face now lacking the playfulness and showed that he truly wanted to help. And then Viktor came closer… he reached up to Yuuri’s chin, touching the raven-haired skater's lip and pulling closer. Yuuri let it happen, the touch brought wave over wave of conflicted emotions over him but this time the wanting was deeper than his own fear and he could swear if it wasn’t for him suppressing it, he would have purred just like a cat. Heat crept up to his cheeks, once again Viktor seemed to instinctively bring his black and white-tipped wings around them, securing them from the outside world. Yuuri couldn’t help but stare into these soulful eyes who called him. They were close enough that their noses nearly brushed each other and the air between them became unnaturally warm for being in an ice rink.

Plisetsky had to ruin the moment, letting his claws screech over the rink wall and shouting something about being the one who was first. Viktor let a silent sigh come off his lips and dropped his hand, and with it his wings from Yuuri to turn to the furious teenager.

“Yuuri, think hard and long what Eros means to you,” Viktor said and left him there, skating to the teen, debating about how they should start the training. It means that he had a lot to do in a short time.  
When Yuuri left the rink to go to the gym room Viktor started to go through the Agape routine with Yurio. The younger Russian didn’t want to skate in sync with him but watch and try for himself several times. So, Viktor skated part for part, letting Yuri do it until he had the outline in, and did the next part. The whole time it felt like his fellow Russian let his instincts run wild, slaughtering the pure part of this skate. They went through the whole program during the day and every single minute Viktor missed the Japanese Yuuri at the rink. During the time they spent together, he felt less restless and the Nephilim within him was content with touching and being close to Yuuri, something that never happened before. But spending his time with a werecat and one as untamed as young Yuri riled his inner creature up.

“Stop, stop!” Viktor interrupted Yurio after the fourth heartless try to go through one particular hard step sequence. The silver-haired man didn’t like to see his program that butchered but he would give Yuri time.

“Something is still missing.” He told the blond teenager who snarled at him, telling him he did everything like Viktor showed him!

“You are too greedy. The way you skate right now … there is no sense of unconditional love.”

“I am no goddamn angel, Viktor! You had this program suited for you, or maybe that piggy if he tried hard enough, but…!”

“Now calm down, Yuri. I know very well what you are but cats are graceful to and they can be pure and love just as anyone else. This is not about showing off your skills, you have done this in juniors well enough.” He lectured the teen.

“You are one to talk! You are the one who skates with complete confidence this whole time! What is agape to you!?”

“It is a feeling of course! I can’t tell you how to fell Yuri, but did you ever think about how you feel in your skating? I guess not, seeing how mechanical you skate everything. You are funny, Yurio. Maybe visiting a temple would help?” Viktor suggested and ordered Yuri to finish for the day.  
He then dropped the blond at the temple and went to wander around in Hasetsu. He looked through his phone and sighed when he called Chris out of nothing. He needed to talk with someone else.

 _“Salut Viktor. You know it is like 8 am here?_ ” Chris greeted with a yawn. Viktor chuckled, knowing well enough that Chris didn’t mind to be called at all. 

“Chris… it is off-season and you are most likely bored anyway. How is Pierre?”

_“You are not calling for small talk Nikiforov. What is going on over there? Still, have the hots for our little demon bait?”_

“You don’t know how much. I don’t know why but I feel content around him. I am not completely in conflict with myself anymore. But well… his teacher and Yuri, you know little Yuri, both say that he could be a _Walker_.” Viktor sighed and slumped down on a bench, petting Makkachin with his free hand.

“ _I know you long enough to know that your Nephilim being content with a human, more so with a_ Walker, _is wrong. You can’t even stand me more than a week close to you and I am an Incubus.”_ Chris worried and Viktor sighed again.

“Maybe it gave up on its mate?”

“ _Hardly. Keep an eye on him for your and our sake. A_ Walker _only means trouble._ ”

“Chris, I am a public figure for nearly 20 years now… If I had a mate he or she would surely have approached me by now.”

 _“Viktor, I know that there are stories out there that Nephilim are born or exist in pairs but they don’t have to be true. At least you got a hot human now. Enjoy as long as you can and take care.”_ Chris said and ended the calls.  
Viktor and he debated a lot over the topic but Chris wouldn’t understand. His nature was completely different from the silver-haired Russian. Viktor still believed in the old legends of his folks that Nephilim is born in pairs to make one whole being. They were only _half_ -angels.

Viktor returned to Yu-Topia and decided to go for a bath in the onsen where both Yuris already relaxed, even if it looked like someone stole their food. Afterwards, they hung around in the dining hall and ate, and Yuuri rested his face on the table, ignoring the food in front of him in favor of thinking. Eros did not come easily to him. He had never felt deeply enough for someone to need bringing out lust or sex-appeal. He truly shouldn’t let his mouth run when he was hungry because he ended up embarrassing himself in front of his idol and the Russian punk, telling them that Katsudon was his Eros. Viktor looked at him like he was betrayed but went along. Time for Yuuri to flee.

At least they finally trained together. Yuuri would sync-skate to Viktor until he had it down and refine it afterward. He had a hard time to mirror specific things where he needed to show Eros because Katsudon wasn’t the best thing to bring up when you need to enthrall your audience, but at least it somehow worked. He didn’t need to tell Viktor that slowly whenever he skated the image of the victory-food changed to that of the winged man and how he came close to their first training with Yurio. He even denied that he thought about Viktor like that.

Yurio too made big steps, his flexibility made his moves more fluid and less mechanical but it still lacked the emotion.  
They trained hard and a lot. It was a short time-span to learn a whole program for an exhibition skate like the _Onsen on Ice_ event and Viktor demanded their full attention whenever he trained them. Whole Hasetsu was out and about to organize the event, Yuuko and Takeshi took over their physical training outside of the rink and cheered them on to do their best.  
More than once Viktor came up with ridicules ideas for young Plisetsky to finally find his _Agape_ he tried it with sync – skating, more visits at the temples and now Yuuri got roped into going to the waterfall.

“I am going to kill him.” The werecat growled, pressing his ears flat on his head to avoid water coming into them.

“Why do I need to be here too?” Yuuri complained but the teen just went on with his rambling until he fell silent. Yuuri didn’t like the sudden silence so he tried to get the teens attention. Something was different, the angry glinting in the green eyes of the teen was gone, replaced with something different.

“Let’s call it a day,” Yuuri said and dragged the teen out of the waterfall. It was strange that Yurio didn’t snap at him for touching him but they went back to Yu-Topia, only to find Viktor missing once again. The raven-haired man shrugged it off, even if he was concerned, but Viktor was a grown man and if he wanted to go eat somewhere else it was his decision.  
It was strange that Viktor wasn’t there when they went to the rink. It was the last day before the event and both wanted to get every bit of training in they still could get.

“Oh, Yurio, I wanted to ask, can you please help me with the landing for the quad Salchow?” Yuuri asked. Without Viktor being around he was a bit more confident to actually ask for help.  
Turns out that the teen was just as much of a slave-driver as Viktor. It had to be the Russian genes, but unlike Viktor, he was much blunter about it. Yuuri could respect that.

Viktor interrupted them by entering the rink, showing all signs of a major hangover and both Yuris went their ways, both wanting to impress Viktor with their hard work. After a while they made place for each other, Yuuri going first over his Eros routine. It was already in his muscle memory but still… it felt like something was lacking. Yuuri was not satisfied but made way so Yuri could do his routine. During his whole routine, the werecat’s ears and tail told the watchers that he was deep in thought, and his skating was even more beautiful than before.  
Yuuri listened how Viktor thought that the blond teenager was ready for the next stage and it hurt, it hurt that he didn’t know if he had a ‘next stage’. He would lose Viktor if he wouldn’t do his best and it left a bitter taste on his tongue and a scared feeling in his chest.  
He went back on the ice, this time only doing bits and parts of his skate, refining them as much as possible, deep in thought.

When they ate together this evening Minako brought up if they would skate in their training clothes or if they had costumes but Viktor was all too eager to help out. Yuuri found himself in the fanboy-heaven when he looked through the costumes. He thought about every skate Viktor had done in particular costumes and thought about how it would have looked like when he would have seen Viktor with his wings back then.  
Yuuri needed to look into costumes when Viktor was at his high, so back into his late Junior days, and one particular was his favorite. It was a black one, part of it mesh and it had a gemstone lining and somewhat of a half-skirt. The image of long-haired Viktor in this costume… paired with the black wings on the tall Russian’s back. He made his decision right then and there. But to fit his skating to this costume he would need help.

It was already late when he reached Minako, asking her for help. She was not happy about she would help him. She knew that Yuuri had a hard time to fit into the Eros role because he was no playboy. No, Yuuri fitted more into the female role, but not a woman to be overlooked, no, a woman dominating the scene. They trained through a good part of the night. Minako did her best to correct his male moves into female ones until he had it down. She was happy with the result so Yuuri felt a lot better about the upcoming event.

A good night’s rest later and they found themselves at the rink, preparing for show. When nearly everything was set up both Yuris were shooed out of the rink to change into their costumes. Yuuko had her hands full with all the people in the rink and getting the reporters set that came. No one believed people would make it this big but then again, they had Japan’s Ace competing against the Russian Fairy for the 5 times world champion.  
Even sports newscaster Morooka was there asking for some words for the audience on TV. Yuuri could feel his nerves but tried to calm them down. Viktor lightened the mood a bot because he was jumping around in a ridiculous costume to entertain the waiting people a bit before he sent his skaters to warm up, where he changed back into his normal attire.

Time was too short until Yuri Plisetsky was called by Yuuko. Yurio made some circles on the ice until Viktor took his place in the audience. Yuuri watched too, seeing the fan community that came for Russia’s rising star. Yurio started off brilliantly, stunning the crowd with his first senior performance and Yuuri know, he knew he needed to fight back or the teen would just push him out of the way and take Viktor with him. Yurio was technically stronger than he was at this point, but during the performance, the emotion Yurio started with vanished. He was too concentrated on his technical points to perform his part, ignoring the fact that it was what Viktor wanted. It was still an astonishing performance. Yuuri really feared about losing to the teenager. Viktor brought him back to competitive skating and he didn’t know what to do without him there. He wanted Viktor here like nothing else.

“Yuuri. It’s your turn.” Viktor said and spooked the Japanese skater a bit. It took a bit until he had himself back and promising that he would give his best.

“Please watch me!” He demanded from the Russian and pulled Viktor in a hug. He needed to feel that Viktor was here right now and the soft ‘Of course, I love Katsudon’ calmed his jittering nerves a bit more. Viktor hugged him back for a short moment, this time without the wings around them, and released Yuuri and ushered him to the ice. Japan’s ace went on the ice, the audience, his audience greeting him with cheers.  
The first accords sounded through the ring

_Who am I dancing for?_

He knew for who he did this. For Viktor. The man that brought his love for the ice. For the man that believed in him, outside of his family and close friends. The man that was so much more than a normal human. He threw Viktor a glance that promised more… and ignored the dull ache that suddenly panged between his shoulders. It was not enough to throw him out of his skating.  
He might not be perfect technically, but he would slay any competition with his performance, and this audience was his. He would lure them all, but only invite one and that would-be Viktor. Yuuri was no angel like the Russian, but he could dream.  
The touchdown after the quad Salchow was not good, but Yuuri focused to not let it hinder the rest of the program. He would be better than any women hanging off Viktor’s arm because Viktor was his and he would give Viktor everything he needed.  
His stamina paid off, a difficult jump combination at the end and he finished in the last pose. Breathing hard, he took in the cheering audience. It felt good to be back and Viktor looked happy about the performance, even hugging him again. Yuuri took the scolding for messed up sequences in, and let Takeshi roll out a carpet and the podium for him.

“Where is Yurio?” The Japanese skater asked but Viktor didn’t know. Yuuko offered to look for him but returned emptyhanded.

“He already went. He knew he had lost.” Yuuko said and Viktor sighed. It wasn’t Yurio’s fault, but Yuuri’s growth in such a short time was greater than the teen’s own.

“I am sure Yakov will get him on the top. Yuri knows what he is doing, even if he is a bit brash in some things.” Viktor said and shooed Yuuri off to the winner’s ceremony.  
Yuuko and Takeshi gave him a small trophy with the rink mascot and a bouquet, and Viktor stepped with him on the podium. The crowd cheered again for him and Morooka asked for a word to the audience. He wasn’t sure about what to tell them, but Viktor slung an arm around him and let him know that he was there for him.

“I am going to try and win the next Grand Prix Final with Viktor! Thank you for your continued support!” He said proudly to his crowd and thought about how the battle for the Grand Prix just started.

* * *

“You are sure about this?” Someone asked and his companion nodded.

“He is sucking in magical power in like someone who just awoke his powers.” The second one said and clapped politely like the rest of the audience.

“He doesn’t know?” The first unknown person asked and the other one nodded.

“He has an interesting file. His school sent him to psychologist because he still believed in magical creatures when he was 10 but his parents pulled him out of it soon enough so no one knows if he can see them today. But I am sure he does. One of our agents kept an eye on him in America and told me that he was jumpy around those beasts.”

“He doesn’t mind to be touched by that darned Nephilim.” The first one spat and the other shrugged.

“Maybe he hasn’t fully developed it and still thinks about things like the hidden world as a prank of his own mind? You know how many of us still keep denying.” The man snorted.

“I hope it for you. Keep watching over him, and when time is right we rope him into our plans. Let these idiotic beings think he belongs to them.” The first one growled and vanished back into the crowd, closely followed by his companion.


	4. Chapter 4

Viktor didn’t give Yuuri any free days after the _Onsen on Ice_ event. They still had a lot of work to do to get the Japanese skater into top form. But the event left Yuuri exhausted and so he overslept fair and square at the next day.

Viktor in all his glory already waited at the rink and Yuuri apologized a thousand times for being late. Viktor took it lightly and as soon as the raven-haired skater changed into his gear they started to go over parts of the Eros program that needed to be better.

Yuuri thought a lot about what will happen next. Now that Viktor stayed in Hasetsu he didn’t need to fight anyone for the angelic man and with the pressure gone, for at least until he needed to go to the Regionals, he could let his mind wander again. It didn’t really help him, flubbing jumps here and there. Viktor was no easy coach and for any younger skater with less experience he would be too demanding, but they somehow had a connection and soon enough Viktor knew what the cause for his flubbing was and called him out on it, on the other hand Yuuri understood him easily, correcting every little mistake as good as possible, even if Viktor just grunted. They didn’t need much to understand each other.  
The day ended productively and so they went back to Yu-Topia to relax in the onsen but on the way there Viktor started to plan for the free skate program with him.

“Yuuri, maybe we should not plan three quads in your program,” Viktor said out of the blue in the onsen and Yuuri turned to him to protest, only to regret it the next moment when he forced himself to look away, blushing deeply.

“I need those to win the Final!” He protested but Viktor disagreed. He walked up to Yuuri, asking him if he knew why he came to coach him. He reached for Yuuri’s wrists and leading him a bit out of the water and once again those huge black wings with white tipped feathers circled them and Yuuri could only stare and listen to his long-time idol.

“I was drawn to you because of the music, the way you skate like your body is creating music. And I want to create a high difficulty program for that.” Viktor told him and the dull ache between Yuuri’s shoulders returned but he ignored in favor for Viktor who suddenly pulled him out of the water, his wings now acting like a wall between them and the outside world, and Yuuri let Viktor stretch him in a way he normally didn’t let anyone do. For once, the Japanese skater didn’t want to shy away and let it happen, but the coughing and muttering from inside the bathhouse told them that they had an audience and they weren’t that happy about the naked acrobatic display of them.

The rest of the bath was calm, the blush on Yuuri’s face didn’t reduce but he didn’t inch away when Viktor sat next to him. Viktor wasn’t pleased that Yuuri never seemed to have done his own program and decided that he wanted to call Celestino when they finished the bathing.  
Once they were dry enough Yuuri called Celestino and after a bit small-talk Viktor took over his phone and talked with Celestino who didn’t seem to be happy about the Russian ‘playing coach’. The insult didn’t seem to pass the Russian because his feathers ruffled up and he looked unhappy but didn’t let himself down into the bickering, asking Celestino directly why Yuuri has never done a program by himself.

_“I usually select the music for my skaters but if they want they can choose too. Yuuri only brought me a piece once, something from a fellow student? He didn’t seem to have confidence in it and overall, he lacks confidence. I told him, again and again, to trust into himself more…”_

Even if Celestino’s words stung a bit Yuuri promised him that he would do his best in the Grand Prix final and redeem himself. But he was happy too, that he finally brought himself to call Celestino after everything. Viktor, on the other hand, wasn’t amused, his wings still looked double the size they normally were, towering over him, now cutting off any way for Yuuri to flee.

“Yuuri… Could I hear the music he mentioned?” Viktor asked, now playing the coach card.

“Oh… sure, gonna need to dig it up first, but sure!” He responded and Viktor let him go,  
The result was more or less lukewarm when Yuuri let Viktor listen to the file after the next training. Viktor was not really impressed with it and mentioned that it was a bit lackluster so he should look into something alternative. So Yuuri went that afternoon and thought about what he could do. It was harder than he thought it would be. He wandered through Hasetsu with his backpack full training gear and didn’t notice how sunset came. When he looked at the street signs he found himself in the outskirts of Hasetsu, a bit farther away than he thought but his feet lead him here and the rustling and growling in one of the hidden backyards alerted him.

Drawn like a moth to fire Yuuri walked up to the backyard and spied around the edge of a wall that would hide him from the fighters. He would intervene if necessary but he hoped it was only a fight between neighbors.  
He could wish.  
But what he saw frightened him. There stood Viktor, his clothes reminded Yuuri of one of the western Romans or Greeks in movies and a long burning whip in his hands. His wings looked even mightier and Yuuri could feel the killing intent waving off the normally so calm and friendly Russian. He truly looked regal, a guardian angel like the one that was fuzzily in his memories from back in his childhood.

Viktor hissed at a horned creature with leathery wings that looked ugly and were shredded by most likely claws. The creature, that still resembled a human in some ways, was naked from the waist up and his torso showed countless scars, some dangerously deep. Its skin was an ugly purple and it holds a sword that seemed to be colder than a Russian’s winter night because the frost on it turned the blade in a glowing blue.

“What are you doing here, demon?” Viktor snarled and evaded a slash by the demon’s sword, sidestepping it effortlessly.

“Don’t you feel it, little guardian? Power is surging into this town and I will have it. Master will give it if I bring the source into the underworld.” The winged demon rasped and tried to get Viktor with another slash but the Russian avoided it, staying out of range.

“And you think you could pass me, with an angel’s weapon in your hand? How did you get it at all?!” The silver-haired man demanded to know but the demon only cackled.

“The sea demons are good traders. An angel gave it up to them in favor of a child.”

“It doesn’t belong to you!” Viktor snapped and his whip flared alive.

Yuuri cowered at the edge of the wall, wanting to flee but he couldn’t. Something was denying him, wanting to help Viktor, but the sharp phantom pain in his chest and the numb pain between his shoulders reminded him that, unlike Viktor or even Yurio, he wasn’t a supernatural being and would be most likely in the way. So, he kept watching. This Viktor wasn’t the public Viktor, but a stronger one but his moves still missed something, like a partner to fill the gaps when he needed to recharge his attack.

“Your fire is useless, little guardian. I am a fire-demon…”

“And yet you wield a sword of ice. No wonder it won’t obey you. It knows its masters.” Viktor replied and let his whip fly. Its end wound around the demon’s wrist and even if the fire couldn’t hurt it, it still cut into its flesh. The demon let the sword drop to the ground and grabbed Viktor’s weapon, trying to drag the man into the sky when it started to flap its wings. Yuuri couldn’t believe that wings, as ripped and destroyed as these, could still carry someone but the demon proved him wrong, taking off to the darkening sky. Viktor had to dig his heels into the ground and tried to get back his weapon but the horned beast seemed to be physically stronger and Viktor ended up to have to use his own wings to hold him on the ground. Those black wings were mighty enough to hold Viktor at the ground, what looked like lazy flaps blew up mighty waves of dust and the demon had to let go of the whip before he would be dragged back to the ground.

Viktor lunged for the sword before the horned one could get it again, now he wielded two weapons but he reacted a bit too slow when the monster attacked from above. He could dig the attack to his head but the sharp claws of the demon grazed the harness and the ugly screeching hurt. The dents in the armor melted back and Viktor chuckled, his wings now in a position that screamed ready to take off.

“I am a guardian and as long as I fulfill my part and send your kind back to hell my contract is fulfilled and I get treated like a heavenly one. Lowlifes like you cannot kill me.” Viktor snarled again, his eyes burning with determination.

“Don’t get cocky, guardian. One day even you will fall.” The demon snarled and both took off for a final slash. Viktor let his mighty wings catapult him up into the air just above the surprised demon and pushed the sword into the demon’s back right above where a normal human’s heart would be. Viktor landed, and the demon disappeared into dust, leaving the freezing sword behind. Slowly silver-haired Russian walked up to the sword and cradled it like something fragile.

Yuuri was freed from the force that forced him to stay and he took off, he wouldn’t want to get caught, even if he could swear he could feel Viktor’s burning eyes on his back. This scene branded itself into him, like something he should never forget. He wouldn’t go straight home, fearing that more things like Viktor’s opponent would follow him. He ended up at the main bridge that parted Hasetsu, leaning over the railing and putting in his headphones. His heartbeat had calmed with the thought that Viktor was guarding him and the rest of Hasetsu from whoever was after whatever surge of power was in here. And somehow his mind was able to suppress what happened just now and he was able to think about his free skate and its music. But he didn’t come to a result right then and there so the raven-haired man went back home to brood over a list of various songs he could use for a program. He wasn’t happy with any of them. But the piece from the girl he knew back in Detroit? It wouldn’t leave him and of all the music he liked it the most. It just needed a bit reworking.

Yuuri ends up calling Phichit who was all too happy to answer his call. His friend had moved back to Thailand and took Celestino with him, and it looked like he was still at the rink. Good old Phichit invited him to come to Bangkok and he would show Yuuri around there. Thailand’s future in the figure skating scene seemed happy that his friend called. With Viktor being around he couldn’t call everyday anymore but at least the time gap between them seemed a bit better now.

“Hey Phichit, do you remember how I had a music demo made?” He asked and naturally, Phichit could remember it. Sometimes Yuuri asked himself how Phichit knew things better about him than Yuuri knew about himself. He promised Yuuri that he would look out for her and they ended their call with the promise that they would see each other soon.  
It didn’t take Phichit long and Yuuri got the e-Mail address and contacted her as soon as possible. The raven-haired skater asked her if she could rework it, making it fit better for _him_ and his figure skating career. He even got a reply in the same night and she seemed to be eager to help him out and would send rough drafts until it fitted perfectly.

When he met Viktor at the rink the following day the Russian didn’t look he was attacked at all. Not that Yuuri wished to see bruises all over his coach, but Viktor shrugged it off like it never happened. He went along with it, not risking that eventual daydreaming or something like this would let him stand out like a freak, and they went back to refining the Eros program and its jumps. The Russian worked him into the ground and around early afternoon he declared a short break. Yuuri skated to him and grabbed the railing to catch his breath.

“How is the music choice for the Free Skate coming along?” Viktor asked him good-natured but when his student just shook his head he was grim about it. They needed to choreograph a whole Free Skate in a short amount of time and refine it to be competition-capable and time was running thin with every time that passed.

“Why can’t you trust your own decisions? Just try to remember something, like when a girlfriend loved you.” Viktor tried to help but hit a wound point and he hissed at the Russian, only to regret it immediately. It was just… he never was in a serious relationship that lasted long enough to be worth remembering anything. The winged Russian understand and dropped the subject than for the day. Should Yuuri say that he had already something in mind? He didn’t, but after training Viktor was strangely pushy, wanting to do a lot of things with him, but Yuuri wasn’t in the mood so he rejected Viktor’s offers.

He wasn’t in the mood to skate at all the next day, rather wanting to stay in his warm nest of blankets, but somehow, he felt guilty to let Viktor just stand in the rink. It didn’t seem like Viktor took rejection lightly, barging in his room when he seemed to have enough of chasing around.

“Ohayo Yuuri! Let’s go to the beach!” Viktor demanded, his voice thickly sweat, not allowing any more rejection. Yuuri scrambled to get changed into somewhat warm clothes. It was one of the colder spring-days, the sky darkened by rainclouds. They went to the beach in silence and sat down on the beach-stone. Yuuri took a second to study Viktor next to him, his wings were missing now, but the silver-haired man was anything but relaxed. The Japanese skater tucks his knees close to him and rested his head on them, looking out to the beach. They sat there, the silence between them was broken by the cry of the seagulls.

“Oh, seagulls,” Viktor said, breaking the awkwardness between them.

“Hm, Black-tailed gulls.” Yuuri offered and Viktor slightly nodded. He told Yuuri how they remind them of Saint Petersburg whenever he hears them in the morning and how he thought that he never would leave his home-city behind.

“Do you ever have times like that?” Viktor asked petting Makkachin who sat between them like a small barrier. Yuuri knew that this discussion was about something else. Viktor just tried to get him comfortable but it didn’t work like this with Yuuri. He would either talk his soul out or keep it forever but he decided to tell his coach about it. A barrier between them wouldn’t do good.

“There was this girl in Detroit who was really pushy and kept talking to me. One time, a rink mate got into an accident. I was pretty torn up by it…. I was in the hospital waiting room with the girl and she tried to comfort me with a hug. I shoved her away without thinking about it.” Yuuri told Viktor who asked for the reason why he did it. It was pretty easy to admit that he didn’t want someone to intruding in his feelings and that he had his own way to deal with it. He felt weak when she tried it and he never wanted to feel weak like this and how his family and friend here in Hasetsu believed in his growth as a skater.  
The ruffling of feathers didn’t bother Yuuri that much then. A wing slightly expanded over to him and covered him with a soft blanket, even if the feathers never touched him. Yuuri could feel Viktor’s support right then and there and he liked this feeling.

“Yuuri, you are not weak.” Viktor declared, “No one believes so either. What do you want me to be to you? A father figure?”

“No.” Yuuri protested. He couldn’t see Viktor as a father. That was just wrong.

“A brother, then? A friend?”, but Yuuri still wasn’t happy with these roles.

“Then, your boyfriend, I guess,” Viktor suggested a bit too cheerfully for Yuuri who jumped up, now protesting full force. That wasn’t it either. No, he couldn’t see Viktor as his boyfriend just yet. Even with all the time they had spent together, it wouldn’t feel right and it frightened Yuuri to even think about Viktor as his boyfriend just yet.

“I want you to stay who you are, Viktor!” the raven-haired man stressed and for the first time in their whole conversation, Viktor turned to him, mustering him and looking for something that would betray Yuuri’s declaration. A slight blush crept up the younger man’s cheeks when he explained to Viktor, why he avoided him.

“I didn’t want you to see my shortcomings.”, he explained and promised that he will make it up with his skating, the only thing he was truly good. Viktor seemed happy about the outcome and promised that he wouldn’t let Yuuri off easily then and that it was his way of showing his love. It seemed like a fair deal. And for the first time, Yuuri felt truly at peace around Viktor because the Russian met him where he was. It wasn’t so hard to open up after all, even if it would take more time for Yuuri to consider to fully let Viktor in.

The next day he even could tell Viktor that his music was going to be redone, but for it to be truly a good program he would need everything he could get. He literally demanded from Viktor to be taught all the jumps that the Russian champion knew.  
Training after that was intense. Yuuri always had a high stamina and when he needed to drill jumps he wouldn’t go easy on himself. Even Viktor, who knew ridiculous hard training, was surprised that Yuuri kept going. The Japanese skater was stubborn like a mule when it came to refining his technics and giving up was not a solution. It also was the first time that Yuuri saw Viktor using his wings when he skated. Normally they were tucked neatly at his back or gone at all but when Viktor seemed to tire and his legs started to buckle with every added jump he used them to get back into the high he needed to execute the jump. It looked like he didn’t do it often because his landing looked roughly and sometimes he even over-rotated.

They needed both a break after a while. Viktor cleaned his blades from the stray ice when he complimented Yuuri on his stamina but Yuuri couldn’t ignore the teasing whisper in his mind when he was his coach and longtime idol bowed in front of him, exposing his hair-swirl. He stared and couldn’t resist, ignoring Viktor’s rumbling about what the Russian knew of his skater. And the finger touched down. Viktor froze dramatically and Yuuri pulled away, slightly embarrassed. Viktor covered his head where Yuuri touched him, asking if it was getting that thin, just before he crumpled down and sprawled out on the ice, playing defeated.  
They really put a show on the ice when Yuuri pleaded for forgiveness.

That evening Yuuri found a Mail with the finished draft of his Free Skate music and was ecstatic about the outcome. He stormed up to Viktor’s room, barging in and hopping on the Russian’s bed without a care, laptop and headphones ready. He was sorry when he accidentally kicked Makkachin who gave him a terrifying glare but Yuuri knew it wouldn’t last long. At least he watched out to not step on the sprawled wings. Viktor, half asleep listened to the music, taking it in and he approved. It fitted well and they could work with this.

When they planned the program in the following days Viktor needed to consider Yuuri’s strength. He was sure that Yuuri could pull off quads in the last half of his program, boosting his scores with it, and the Japanese skater was eager to prove Viktor true, that he could do it. Viktor also asked about the theme of his programs and Yuuri had to blush at the thought of it. He loved skating and everything around it.

“The theme is ‘On my love’”, he declared and Viktor smiled approvingly.

“That is the best theme. Perfect. Okay, let’s finish this!” He declared and they went on the ice to start training the free skate program.

A few days later the figure skating fans of Hasetsu, meaning Minako, the Nishigori family and the Katsukis, meet up for the Grand Prix qualifier assignments. Yuuri wasn’t allowed to look into them by himself, his friend wanting to make it a big thing to celebrate and Viktor was eagerly joining them. So awkwardly took his place before his cheering family and friends who congratulated him to be nominated by the JSF. The Nishigori triplets even prepared a small show to explain the whole process of the Grand Prix qualifiers for the Katsukis.

The GP event Yuuri would compete in is the Cup of China where he would meet up with Phichit, something that put Yuuri in a good mood.  The second event would be the Rostelecom Cup in Russia where he would clash with Yurio. His previous good mood dropped when he thought about how Viktor wouldn’t take part in the series. It was always his goal to beat him there, and people would call him out for ‘stealing’ Viktor from the ice for sure. It wasn’t really helping his incoming fears.  
And then… to even be allowed to participate in the GP series he needed to do the regional block competition after his mess-up at Nationals the previous season.  
At least everyone announced their support for him and even his parents would try to follow his competitions as good as possible which lifted the gloom mood immensely.

The upcoming days Yuuri trained as hard as ever, not wanting to let them down. This feeling in his chest… It felt like something long gone returning to him, but it also was completely new. And when he skated the first time to _his_ music he felt a bit more complete. He knew about the short life of a competitive figure skater and was glad that he didn’t give it up because he could do what his heart desired, even if it would be most likely his last season. There were so many unknown factors out there, but for once he hoped he could spend all time possible with Viktor and on the ice.

This song, his probably last skate before he would be gone for good from the international stage, it was _his_ song, about his struggling and returning in what he loved the most, and how he didn’t need to fight alone because he had so many supporters, and one of them was the angel before him.

One of them was Viktor Nikiforov, the five times world champion in figure skating, who came to coach _him_ of all people and believed in his powers.

He would skate to ‘Yuuri on Ice’.


	5. Chapter 5

September came faster than anyone could say quad flip and Yuuri found himself at the Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship. During the last weeks, he and Viktor had become a steady and comfortable routine, not to close but not far either. He actually enjoyed Viktor’s presence whenever he could, but sometimes the dull ache in his shoulders became worse when he stayed too long near the silver-haired Russian, and sometimes he wanted more but caught himself whenever he was about to do something reckless like flirting with the man. His aim was the GPF and everything around it would only add a bonus, but his concentration wouldn’t falter for something else.  
He needed this block competition to be able to compete at the Grand Prix series. The downside was he found himself in a row of younger skaters, himself being the oldest with 23 years.   
It wouldn’t bother him that much but half of the competitors looked like something directly out of a fairy tale. One of them waved off the same feeling that Minako and Phichit too sometimes gave off, a power slumbering somewhere, but his ears were pointed and his eyes looked more like those of a feline.

One kid, if Yuuri could remember right it was Minami Kenjirou who beat him fair and square at his disaster-nationals, looked like a dog version of Yurio. And don’t ask him how he knew it, he just guessed, because his tail and ears looked different from those of a cat. Yuuri chanted inwardly that he would concentrate on his skating, ignoring everything else like he did before, in America, yes, he would do that. He was dead set on pulling a number that wouldn’t let him skate first but was disappointed when he drew the number one 1. Disappointed he took his place where an exited Minami wagged his tail that thumped against the uncomfortable plastic of the chairs they sat on during the pull.

Yuuri played the ‘I don’t know you’ card well enough to get a frustrated howl out of the younger skater. The raven-haired skater asked himself how it would sound for ‘normal’ people but forgot about it as soon as Minami was called to draw a number. Lucky kid drew number 4 and they were dismissed for the rest of the day since the event didn’t start until the next day.

The event was big enough to draw in some reporters, most of all because of him, as Japan’s Ace and Viktor as his coach.

“We have timed him to peek at the Grand Prix Final…”Viktor proudly claimed, “So, he can take it easy and earn a personal best today!”

Yuuri freaked at this bold deceleration. He literally bombed his last competition in Japan and still got used to being able to score high again. Demon-killing angel or whatever Viktor was didn’t mean he could throw him in front of the anxiety train like that. And Yuuri made sure Viktor knew it.  
Afterward, the open training session went on good but Yuuri still couldn’t stand the attention around his persona and that ‘puppy’, Viktor’s muttered words, not his, named Minami kept his eyes on him, brimming with excitement.   
The rest of the day was spent preparing for the Short Program. Viktor fussed around him a lot, making sure that costume and hair were perfect. Yuuri took the time to study Viktor who seemed really content with preparing his student for his skate. He hummed in a low tone, only interrupted when he wasn’t content with the way how his hair fell or when a wrinkle in the costume was at the wrong place. The Russian would slightly bristle his feathers until he was happy again. Yuuri had a hard time to not hum by himself because, even after all the time spent with Viktor, moments like this were still strange and rare. He kind of knew that _only_ Viktor would know the right way and that others would only mess up. It was strange.   
But then the silver-haired coach left him alone, disappearing into thin air shortly before the competition started. It worried the raven-haired man that Viktor disappeared like this. The last time he found the other fighting with some beast.

Viktor ‘extra’ Nikiforov appeared unharmed in a crowd of swooning fangirls and Yuuri starred at the man in the suit. It was a well fitted black suit in the same shade of black like his feathers. The Russian’s wings were gone for now. Still, black and white was very fitting for him but still…

“You changed clothes?” Yuuri deadpanned and Viktor nodded eagerly.

“It is my glorious debut as a coach, so I should be in a formal dress!” He said proudly and Yuuri was embarrassed how much Viktor stood out now.  
Viktor was still new to the coaching and didn’t bother to tone down his excitement when he went with Yuuri to the rink. For once the oldest skater of the competition tried to focus on the objective here. He would have loved to respond to Viktor’s rambling but he really needed to find the right headspace to NOT think about everything strange going on around him. Instead, he went out on the ice, pushing his skate guards into his coach’s hands, and warmed up with the others.

Not only had Yuuri a hard time to fight down his anxiety, but once again his shoulders, or more specific the place between them, felt sore and itchy. He rotated them after doing his warm up to get the irritating feel out his back and it went numb after all but wasn’t gone at all. Viktor threw him a questioning glance but he did another two laps in the rink when the others started to leave before he went back to his coach. Somehow the Russian didn’t take it lightly to be ignored, his face showing clear irritation when he took a sip out of his water bottle.

“Yuuri, turn around,” Viktor demanded and when Yuuri didn’t follow it his voice got a bit sharper.

“Uhm, like this?” Yuuri asked and was shocked when Viktor suddenly hugged him. He nearly dropped his bottle but managed to hold onto it while Viktor nuzzled his face in the crook of his neck. He was painfully aware that they were in public and his cheeks burned brightly red, not able to imagine why someone like Viktor, the beautiful angel, would seek out to hug _him_ of all people.

“Yuuri” he whispered, barely loud enough over the noises that reporters and audience gave from them, “Next time your back aches, tell me. I know how to help you with that. And give your best to seduce me with all you have. If you perform to charm me, you can enthrall the entire audience too. Remember that.”

“H…hai!” Yuuri replied, his voice trembling when his feelings sank in and having Viktor nuzzling him like that made him want to purr like a kitten. Viktor then sends him off, he could hear his very own fan club, Minako and Takeshi shout over the rest of the audience to wish him luck.

_Just remember to skate like in practice._

And the music started. The theme was still not the easiest for him but the image of trying to seduce Viktor, the man he had chased all his life, made it easier for him. He threw a kiss into the direction of the silver-haired Russian and went on with the beat of the music. Yuuri knew that Japan was a bit reserved, but he gave his all into this program and until now he only received a lukewarm response. It somehow angered him a bit, but also gave him the motivation to do _better_ to get the response to his skating. Even in Hasetsu his audience more eager than now.

_At least Viktor is going to like this step sequence._

He was no angel like Viktor, not a feline-like Yurio or an eager puppy like Minami, but at least he could be the Katsudon fatale that enthralls men. He wished he could snort at this thought, but it was true and it helped him to sort his thoughts and get him in the right mindset.

And with his first jump the aches in his back were forgotten, the thrill of skating now getting a full grip on him and the audience now awake. The triple axel was clean, the crowd exploded and he felt good doing it. He rooted in the flow to be still there for his quad salchow.   
A small curse slipped him when he touched down, the momentum was good but he over-rotated a bit. Still… Viktor always told him that his major-scoring was his artistry, his PCS are going to be stronger than his technical score, but he wouldn’t let his point go to waste, the last combination being worth the most points. The quad-toe loop was clean, but he only managed a double afterward and once again he cursed inwardly.  
Viktor would tell him he thought too much. And it was true. Instead of trying to go for the story he calculated and hoped everything went the way he wanted. It also took a lot out of him.

Yuuri perked up when a somehow familiar voice shouted over the crowd, but he couldn’t imagine a face belonging to it. Once off the ice, he received his scolding from Viktor. The Russian seemed to be not pleased with his performance at all, his feathers ruffled up like always when Viktor was annoyed over a fact or another. Yuuri was getting good at reading Viktor’s more subtle mood changes because of the way his wings and feathers betrayed him.

The scolding was interrupted when the score was announced. 94.36 points. It was below 100 points but Yuuri couldn’t be happier, having scored over his previous personal best and easily taking first place. Reporter Morooka was eager to tell him that it was enough to be under the top 10 scores in the world. But once again Viktor had to peck him down. Sometimes it was hard to have a coach who scored easily over 100 points just to beat personal best over personal best. Yuuri sighed and rotated his shoulders again to get that strange itching and the tension out of them. It got him a worried glance from Viktor for a few seconds.

“About your free skate tomorrow… Lower the difficulty of your jumps and focus on your performance. You have never nailed them during practice, have you?” Viktor demanded and Yuuri’s try to argue with him was denied, Viktor making a similar face like he did when he faced off these demons that came near Hasetsu. The poodle-handkerchief holder was the only thing that took the sharpness out of the bristled feathers of the wings looming threatening over him and the scowl on Viktor’s face. Thankfully Viktor immediately became softer, seeing that the argument between them was gone, but he uttered a challenge.

“Are you saying you can not listen to your coach, Yuuri?” The Russian asked sickly sweet and killed the last bit of resistance in Yuuri. Reporters approached them to get an interview about what he had planned for his free skate and so on. One of the younger skaters, the one that looked a lot like a puppy with shaggy brownish ears and excited wagging tail and the one fang poking from his upper lip, approached Yuuri and was heartbroken when his idol told him he couldn’t watch his performance. The raven-haired man would remember the moment when one sharp fang became two and the blond skater growled at him for making fun of him being a fan. Yuuri felt guilty that he had shrugged off Minami like this, it felt a lot like a déjà-vu, and instead of the role of the fanboy, he was suddenly the idol.

“I’m gonna give tomorrow’s free skate everything I have got! Please do the same too, Yuuri-kun! I won’t forgive you if you slack off!” The boy challenged and Yuuri gulped, instinctively trying to find a reaction from Viktor who only gave him a shrug.   
And then it doomed over Yuuri that Minami was the one who beat him at Nationals in the previous season while he self-destructed.  Why was the kid still looking up to him?

Viktor then ended the whole thing, pushing Yuuri out of the limelight to get changed, feeling that his student’s anxiety was bubbling up. Once changed, they went to collect Minako and Takeshi to go to the hotel for the night but Yuuri was still tense, adding to the aching in his back and his still undefeated anxiety running wild, he felt sick once they reached the hotel. A hot shower didn’t help, so he just went to his bed, dropping face first on the blankets, muffling the frustrated groan there. Viktor, who shared a room with him looked up from his phone and once again seemed to be worried about something.

“Is your back still acting up? Yuuri… you should tell me.” The silver-haired man asked, standing up from his own bet to sit down on the edge of Yuuri’s bed. Yuuri automatically tensed, even more, his mind screaming to flee. But he didn’t flee and slightly turned to face his own idol.

“I can’t explain why. I didn’t land weirdly at all.” He admitted and Viktor turned a bit more to him, hands hovering over Yuuri’s back but he stilled just mere inches over Yuuri.

“Can I?” Viktor asked, his voice so soft and Yuuri felt like a spell washed over him, after so many months with touchy-feely Viktor asking for permission it just felt right to allow the Russian to go on. The winged man was careful to let his fingers wander until he found the place that was bothering Yuuri a while now. And once again Yuuri had to stop himself to purr out like a cat, Viktor’s fingers working magic on aching muscles and shooing away bothering thoughts. Yuuri’s eyelids dropped heavily and he can’t remember how long Viktor went on but he felt peaceful that moment.

The Russian smiled once Yuuri’s breath evened out. He had known back-pain, most of all when puberty hit him hard and his wings grew to their full length and weight. The muscles between his shoulders had ached for months, but back then Yakov’s ex-wife Lilia helped him, giving him massages to calm the aching down. But it worried Viktor when he felt magic coil back at his finger-tips when he let his hands roam over Yuuri’s back. It was normally an indicator for a shifting, but from everything he got until know Yuuri was a _Walker among the Worlds_ , not a real magical being. So why was magic working on his body?   
It didn’t seem to harm Yuuri other than causing the aching so Viktor told himself he would watch over the development.

And like a hawk, he watched Yuuri the next day. The raven-haired skater seemed to be in a mood once they reached the rink, barely talking at all and avoiding the other skaters. Viktor couldn’t remember that he was that cold to fellow competitors and it irked him. Yuuri even turned away from Minami when the other tried to reach out. That was harsh, even for someone who isn’t that good with communication.

“Yuuri, how can someone who can’t motivate others to motivate himself?” Viktor asked, his voice void of any emotion. Yuuri had to watch Viktor leaving him alone with the words ‘I am disappointed in you’ and felt utterly lost.   
He knew what he did wrong the moment he saw in the corner of his eye Kenjirou bounce on the ice, excitingly exchanging some words with his coach. The kid had counted on him, and just like Viktor was his own idol, Minami idolized him as Japan’s Ace.

Yuuri hesitated to go to backstage for a moment, Minami took his starting position on the ice, seeming a bit down for his bright personality, and the raven-haired skater took a deep breath, turning to the ice and shouted from the top of his lungs.

“MINAMI! GANBA!”

Yuuri just stayed long enough to see the younger skater scream in happiness before he started his program. It was a fiery program that took the crowd in its ban, and it reminded him of the times when his skating was more carefree.  
He then went out to do his stretches, until only one skater was ahead of him to take the ice. When he returned to the rink, his head was already in the competition. For once he pushed the anxiety back where it belonged, and he was ready to give Minami what he wanted. His best and beyond that. He already made his mind up to ignore Viktor’s instruction to lower his jumps. He might not land them every time in practice, but if he wouldn’t give his best now, when would he start? Unlike people like Christophe Giacometti or Viktor himself he didn’t peek with the competition at the end of the season, for him, it always went all out or fail until now.

He would show Viktor how motivated he could be.

The Russian seemed in a better mood when Yuuri walked up to him, but they still didn’t exchange a word until Viktor complimented him on his costume.

“Yeah, that costume looks good. You look beautiful in it.” The winged man complimented and Yuuri let him push a few stray strands back and apply some lip balm like it was an everyday thing to do. Viktor pulled him into a hug and he followed suit, slinging his arms around the Russian’s back but avoiding to touch the base of the wings.   
Minami, only a few feet away from them let off some surprised yips because their little show was beyond the friendliness coach and student normally share.

Yuuri took the ice once the other skater finished his program, doing some laps until he took his opening position. The first accords softly played and Yuuri followed them. They told his story, all the way through his figure skating career and now he shared it with the audience for the first time in a competition. Lowering the difficulty of his program would only hurt the story, but Yuuri had something in mind. He would change parts of his program elements but in his favor.

Viktor wasn’t sure if Yuuri wanted to change the points to get more points for the difficult jumps in the second half, or if he was just stubborn enough to still pull the 3-quads. The raven-haired skater looked still a bit stiff, and the Russian actually wondered if the part of Yuuri’s story where he appeared was now showing the real thing. Did he really surprise Yuuri that much after everything that happened in Sochi?

Instead of their planned triple Salchow Yuuri actually went for the quad, stepping out of it but it still counted as a quad, and it slowly doomed Viktor that Yuuri ignored his instruction to prove something. He just hoped that Yuuri didn’t take the fall to badly and was able to shake it off. And indeed Yuuri’s following triple loop was nailed and his moves became more fluid and he was full in his story.   
The audience was full there, they loved the story and even when he didn’t nail his jumps they still cheered him on.

Viktor could taste the impatience with every not-so-much-lowered jump his student executed. Yuuri wanted to prove himself and took the chance to do it, and that is what it made it so hard to look away. Viktor was proud for Yuuri not just obeying him, but going for the limits, even if it earned the younger man a face-plant into the rink wall, well deserved but still proud.

 _I wonder who he takes after, to be so rebellious towards his coach._ Viktor mused and watched Japan’s Ace ending his program with the last accords and his thoughts stuttered when the last gesture ended with Yuuri pointing to him. He knew he should scold Yuuri for going against his words, but on the other hand, he had done it so often, and the audience was fully on the skater’s side.

When Yuuri turned to Viktor, a bit apologizing for his rebellious behavior, and saw the pride in his own idol who reached out for him the hurting nose and aching in his back was forgotten. He leaped for Russia’s champion who burned him with stepping aside and letting him drop to the floor. It was well deserved, Yuuri admitted that, but once he was back at his legs and his score was announced, placing him first even with all the flubbed jumps and Viktor’s prizing in his ears he was sure that he could make it to the Grand Prix Final once again.

And then he saw the happy smiling face of one Kenjirou Minami, tail wagging behind him and the young skater was totally fine with having lost to him. Just like Yuuri had aimed to compete against Viktor in the GP series Minami wanted to be his friendly rival.   
And suddenly he was for once the one swarmed by skaters and others for autographs. He even didn’t mind Takeshi’s scolding for the face-to-wall and loved Minako’s pricing just as much as the one he received from Viktor.

When he stood with Minami and the 3rd placing skater on the podium he felt good. Skating in a competition like this was never that much fun before. And it didn’t bother him that much anymore to deal with competitors that were not human because he still could compete with them on the same level, so why fear them?


	6. Chapter 6

Between the regional competition and Yuuri’s first GP event they had a bit time. Next to refining ‘Eros’ and ‘Yuri On Ice’ they seemed to come in a close friend's relationship. Yuuri would tell Viktor more easily what bothered him, even went so far to let Viktor’s sporadic touching happening without flinching back, and Viktor would over to help him with his still aching back.

But not everything was as idyllic as it seemed to be. Viktor often went for long walks after dinner and returned even later. At first Yuuri offered to go with him but the Russian often just smiled sadly and then told him he either had to make some calls, just wanted a bit alone time because it wasn’t too good to be ALWAYS around each other. But the fact that he left Makkachin with the Katsuki’s was bothering Yuuri. He had learned that Viktor hated it to be left alone.

Only once Yuuri stayed up long enough to hear Viktor tumbling home, dragging himself up the stairs and tiredly dropping in his room. The raven-haired man only dared to tiptoe to Viktor’s room when he heard slight snoring. The door wasn’t proper closed so he silently pushed it open, letting the moonlight from the floor flood the room. The winged man looked roughed up, even in the dark room. His black and white tipped wings looked like someone had forcefully ripped out feathers and the dried blood looked horrible on the ripped clothes. Yuuri didn’t know if it was Viktor’s own or whatever he had fought out there, but the attacks seemed to increase every week.   
He fled the room when Viktor unpleasantly grunted in his sleep and rolled over, muttering what seemed to be Russian curses.   
How did Viktor manage to look like nothing happened every morning?

The Cup of China was approaching fast, and then, just three days before the competition started, they were about to leave Hasetsu. Yuuri’s family and friends waved them good-bye after Viktor overdramatically told Makkachin they would be back soon.  
Minako gave Viktor a short nod that Yuuri nearly missed, but it seemed to mean a lot because the tension in Viktor’s shoulders slacked and he smiled at them.

Whatever it was, it seemed to hype Viktor, because once they were in the plane he went on, rambling about how long it was since he last time flew in coach-class. Yuuri had to tell him off from ridiculous ideas, just wanting to get some sleep in. Even if the time difference between Japan and China wasn’t that big he still fought with jet-lag every time and getting some hours of sleep in seemed to be the better alternative.  
In the end, they somehow slept coddled against each other, with Viktor slightly drooling on Yuuri’s shoulder. It was a peaceful moment that both didn’t want to end, but the stewardess seemed to think differently.

They were a day early but a few familiar faces already greeted them once Viktor and Yuuri reached the hotel, still shaking off the sleep in their limbs after sitting in a cramped plan and taxi.   
Phichit let of a high pitched scream when he spotted Yuuri in the lobby. Yuuri let his best friend fuss around him and the Russian felt a bit out of place and even if he knew that Phichit was just being a good best friend he felt his inner being growl in jealousy. It wasn’t like the Japanese didn’t respond to him when he tried to be just as friendly as Phichit was now, but Yuuri always turned scarlet and became a stuttering, mumbling mess when he got _too_ friendly. At least Viktor felt like he wasn’t ‘friend-zoned’ yet, even if Yuuri didn’t really advance his flirting game.

“When did we stop to be like them?” A raspy dark voice greeted Viktor from behind and once he turned to see who it was he smiled at his oldest friends. Chris was one of the few people he trusted unconditionally, even if the horns on the forehead reminded the Russian of the enemy.

“Maybe the day you started to theme your skating on sex? How is Pierré?”

“You mean Masumi? Pierré that asshole dumped me after Worlds.” Chris hissed and Viktor gave his best friend a sympathizing smile. He knew Masumi, a member of the Swiss Skating Federation and former Ice Skater. That man was like Chris’ husband since years, but their relationship never advanced high enough to be considered as a pair, but Masumi didn’t seem to mind Chris’ flirting and relationships at all.

“And I see you still want to go for magical Yuuri? Already cracked the nut? What is he?” Chris asked and got a hiss from Viktor to shut him up. The Russian glanced over to the still chatting friends a bit away from them and then glared at Chris.

“You remember small Yuri?”

“The angry werecat? Sure, you dragged him around a lot last year.” Chris shrugged nonchalantly and they went for the free air-chairs to get a bit more distance from any noisy people.

“He thinks he is a _Walker_. But I don’t. His godmother told a story that might make it possible for Yuuri to be a _Blessed One_ , but then his magic wouldn’t fluctuate that much. Whatever he is, it draws demons, the bad kind, in.” Viktor told his best friend and Chris sat on the edge of his chair.

“You know he is your responsibility when he turns out to be a _Walker_ and harms one of our kind. Viktor…”

“Wouldn’t he tell me by now that he can see magical things?! Chris, I am going to be stir crazy! I like him, a lot, but I have constantly to fight myself to hold myself off, not advance more in our relationship than Yuuri wants. I feel like I belong next to him, it is the strangest thing I have ever felt around somebody, but what happens if you are right? If he turns out to be a _Walker_?” Viktor sighed and he let his head drop in his hands. Things became more and more complicated.

“Just… stay warry, ok? I wouldn’t like it if something happened to you.” Chris said stood up. He walked up to Viktor and patted his shoulder with a crooked smile and then bid his good-night for the day. Viktor sat there for a moment or two, just starring at the coffee-table and thinking about what happened the past months.

It seemed like Yuuri felt that he was bothered by something. The Japanese looked to Viktor, missing him by his side. Phichit followed his gaze and smiled brightly, excusing himself and Yuuri just watched his friend skipping away. He felt a bit annoyed that Phichit thought ahead of him like that but he was thankful too, not having to look for an excuse. He went over to Viktor and asked if he was all right. His coach jumped on his feet and smiled. They went together to check in their room and used the rest of the evening just laying in their beds, scrolling mindlessly through social media.

Viktor was in a better mood after practice the next day. They were held up by some reporters and Viktor got impatient, tugging at Yuuri like a small child. But suddenly he was gone from the Japanese’s side, following Yakov. Yuuri only saw how the winged man got rejected by his own former coach and sighed. All these mood swings between them felt like one of them was pregnant and it had to be at his first Grand Prix event too. China promised to be one hell ride of feelings already.

At least they went to get some hot-pot. Seeing all the food, greasy and most of it raw, made him think twice. But at least Viktor dug in, happily munching away.

“It is really good!” The Russian champion tried to get him to eat but Yuuri had no mind for food anymore. With Viktor running off to follow Yakov he let his mouth run loose and now his anxiety kicked in, reminding him that he talked too much back then.

“What will people say when I lose after all that?” He sighed but his darkening thoughts were interrupted when Phichit once again appeared. Phichit was always good to lift the mood.

Well… It ended in a mess. Phichit invited Celestino, one of the people Yuuri wanted to avoid for a bit longer. Being a responsible coach Viktor didn’t try to make a fight, but Celestino still thought that the Russian should stop pretending to be a coach. It ended with a drinking contest and even more embarrassment. Viktor might be able to hold his liquor better than Yuuri’s former coach, who passed out in his corner, only Phichit preventing him from sliding to the floor, but Viktor… he tended to throw of his clothes.

The silver-haired man clumsily flapped his too large wings in the little space they had and Yuuri really had a hard time not to dodge them, pretending not to see them at all. Viktor nuzzled in his neck, babbling about Onsen while Phichit tried to get the wasted Celestino back under the living. And two of the younger skaters, Guang Hong Ji and Leo de la Iglesias, snapped photos of the crime scene.   
Phichit even had the nerve to update one of the pictures.

It was a mess, a total mess. And it kept going on. People might as well think he slacked off, played around or whatever, he could already see the headliner ‘ _Katsuki fooling off! Star coach Nikiforov didn’t deserve this.’_   
And Christophe Giacometti had to slid in and add to his growing mess of feelings, scaring the shit out of him. Chris looked a lot like these creatures that Viktor fought, horned and sporting a set of leathery wings. They looked well kept, but that didn’t help at all!

“Yuuri, why didn’t you invite me yesterday?” Chris asked huskily, and Yuuri nearly jumped at the lack of space.

“You are in a good shape! Guess your master is giving you a very thorough training.”

It sounded a bit more hostile than Chris ever had when they spoke. His eyes were clearly showing distaste and when Viktor joined them Giacometti seemed to be less friendly with his friend too than when they met in the lobby. Even Christophe’s coach was not amused but luckily for Yuuri it was only for the fact that Viktor ‘played coach’ not because of his choice in a student.

“Yuuri, the sin of keeping Viktor to yourself is grave. The whole world is hoping for his return.” Chris whispered just loud enough to let only him hear it while the Russian was busy talking to his fellow Russian’s.

At least Chris let him alone after that but he still felt sick. Why was everyone trying to frighten him, just after he accepted that supernatural was part of his world too? After he had so much fun with Minami and the other Japanese skaters who all were kind of supernatural?  
After a short warm-up on the ice, he watched Phichit’s short program with Viktor. His best friend might not have been hostile towards him, but he was tense around him ever since Yuuri left America to go home. It hurt that his best friend kept him at arm's length because of whatever happened after Sochi.

The aching in his back roared up after Phichit ended his skate. He turned on his heels and went on to jog on the place to busy himself. People around him and Viktor wouldn’t accept them like this. Not if they wanted Viktor back on the ice, and thought about him being unworthy of Viktor’s time. They wouldn’t accept the old Yuuri, the one that failed, flubbed and cried in exchange of the 5-time world champion. He needed to prove his place in a world of supernatural and skaters that now gave their best to reach for the empty spot that Viktor had left.

The Russian on the other hand was fascinated. Yuuri was never so concentrated and calm. It worried that the magic around him lashed out and Chris even approached him because of it, but the taste of it was strangely familiar and his own magic resonated with it. And then it was time for Yuuri to go onto the ice.

Like always Japan’s ace did some laps around the rink until he went up to Viktor to get their infamous insider joke.

“The time to seduce me by picturing pork cutlet bowls and woman during your skate is over. You can fight with your own charm. You can see it just fine, can’t you?” Viktor said and gently squeezed Yuuri’s hand. He was there for him. And Yuuri felt bold enough to entwine his fingers in the one of the silver-haired Russian’s. His forehead pressed against Viktor’s and eyes locked into these pools of blue that shone just as brightly as the first day Viktor came into the onsen, the first time he successfully skated to ‘Eros’ and the first medal they won in the Kyushu competition, gave the raven-haired strength. Viktor was his bastion of calm.

“Don’t ever take your eye off me,” Yuuri demanded. He then pushed off the rink walls and took his position.

Boldness, thy name is Yuuri. He licked his lips suggestively and threw a kiss in the direction of the person that was so much more than just an idol.   
Figure skating might not be a language that many understood, but it was the best way for Yuuri to show his feelings without breaking out in an anxiety attack. He had themed this season on love, and this time he was going to show just how much he loved.   
People might think this wasn’t like himself because he suddenly could do better, but until now he never felt like his programs fitting like this season. They wanted to see the new Yuuri Katsuki? They would get the new Yuuri. The one that was worth Viktor’s time.

He nailed his jumps.

 _I am the only one who can satisfy Viktor._ He thought, something within reared its head, maybe it was the anger for all of the people who wanted them apart and Viktor back. He would prove them wrong.

Love did win. He panted harshly, the program never been as flawless until this. Viktor jumped wildly behind the wall that separated them. On his way out he collected a plush onigiri and his coach clinked to him the moment he had put on his skate guards. They went together to the Kiss & Cry and Yuuri listened to Viktor’s happily pricing.

“Yuuri, did it feel great?” Viktor asked him, a proud smile on his lips when he looked to the raven-haired skater who gave a slight nod.

“Well, I was hoping everyone felt great watching me.”

106.84 points.

Viktor excitedly clapped next to him while he needed to squint at the scores to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.  

12 points over his personal best for the short program, a new best. He couldn’t believe it. Viktor ruffled his hair and happily hugged him.

“Of course, they would feel great watching a performance like that. You are the best student.” Viktor told him, just loud enough so Yuuri could understand it. It sent shivers down his spine, but this time they were pleasant. He blushed deep red when interviewers nearly pounced on him, not used to be first in a big event like this.

They watched Georgi and Viktor had to stifle a laugher and when Yuuri looked at him in question he told him that Georgi tended to get even worse with being dramatic when he lost a girlfriend. The other Russian even cried real tears.

“Well, it will up his PCS.” Viktor chuckled and Yuuri felt sympathy for Georgi, but even with the high PCS, Georgi didn’t manage to overtake Yuuri’s 1st place.   
To be exact, no one of group 2 managed to get over his 106.84 points, not even Chris who was known for his sex-appeal on Ice.

The men’s singles ended with Yuuri taking first, followed by Georgi and Leo, even if Yuuri had to give up on the ‘reward of sex-appeal’ to Chris, but that butt move…

The pressure was on.


	7. Chapter 7

Coming first at a competition was always scary for Yuuri. Now the need to keep the hopes of his family and friends was high and fed the lingering anxiety that already raged under his skin.

He didn’t sleep well the past nights, trashing and turning wildly from side to side. He asked himself how Viktor wouldn’t wake up from the noise he made, his bed being only one step away from Yuuri’s own.

He felt guilty when Viktor fussed around him during practice. He didn’t really like others worrying about him. As soon as practice was over Viktor ushered him back to the hotel, friends and fellow skaters threw them heated glares that let Yuuri’s hair stood on edge. Hostility was something new and it filled his anxiety, even more, filling him to the brim.

Viktor was sweet to tuck him in for a nap and it felt like belonging for a moment because Viktor tugged _him_ in, telling him calmly that he usually took a nap before a competition. Yuuri even didn’t mind the fact that Viktor laid just next to him. He kind of even wished for Viktor to cuddle him. The raven-haired skater told himself it was like dreams come true but it felt deeper than any dreams he could imagine. Months ago, he would have laughed into the fools face that Viktor Nikiforov, a Nephil according to Chris, skater extraordinary, would cuddle him, peacefully snoring and clutching to his side, wings either hanging of the bed or spread like a blanket over them. Yuuri might have given in and tried to sleep but moments before he could rest his anxiety flared up, telling him that Viktor had forgotten to put on a timer to wake them up. Every try to wake up the Russian went fruitless and Yuuri couldn’t bring himself to fall asleep anymore.

He was a mess. On the verge of a panic attack, Yuuri refused to look at his following competitors. The only one who still smiled in his direction was Phichit but he didn’t know how to return Phichit’s kindness right then and there and went on to mumble to himself, trying to calm his nerves but nothing worked. He even asked Viktor to have some time alone, his coach not really willingly walked a bot way, watching him shake and failing to calm down.

“Yuuri,” Viktor asked sickly sweet, with his wings gone Yuuri couldn’t really see if he was angry or just tried to berate him, “You didn’t nap, did you?”

Yuuri tried to deny it, rambling that he did nap and so on but the still a tad to sweet smile told the Japanese man that he screwed up, lying wasn’t his strong suit and Viktor always found out about his lies.

“I forbid you to do any jumps in the warm-ups,” Viktor demanded, knowing well enough that Yuuri would flub every jump in the state he was right then and there.  
But Viktor had to learn again that Yuuri was stubborn like a mule and once on the ice, everyone around doing jumps, Yuuri went on and gained speed to do a jump. And he fell. After that he didn’t try again, already being in the wrong mindset and Yuuri could swear he felt the lingering stares of his fellow competitors on him.

When he came off the ice Viktor didn’t try to scold him, he did the exact opposite and tried to cheer him up, saying that mistakes in warm-ups weren’t uncommon and he still could do perfectly well in his program.

The pressure was high enough that it threatened to break his anxiety free. Yuuri even couldn’t watch anymore how his fellow skaters were doing, the clapping and cheering of the audience haunting him, knowing he needed to live up not only as himself, the man who did a sultry program that could rival anything that Chris could muster and skate it well enough to place even higher than the Swiss skater with it, but also his status as the student of the legendary skater Viktor Nikiforov. He needed to prove that he didn’t _steal_ Viktor just to fool around.

It hurt Viktor to see Yuuri fall apart like this. His Nephil clawed in him, rattling him up to do _something_ to calm the other down, to stop hurting himself like this most of all in front of the other skaters who were noisy enough to watch them instead of focusing on their task ahead. He grabbed the shaking man and dragged him away from the eyes of the others, ignoring whatever they might believe. He had to search a calm place where no noise of music or the audience reached them. A place where he could lift of the pressure Yuuri put himself in.

They went down to the garage and Yuuri calmed visibly down. With most of the sound besides their own steps and breathes and the silent repetition of Yuuri’s free skate music coming of the headphones it was easier to relax. But the tension in Yuuri’s posture stayed and Viktor had a hard time to think about how he can deal with someone else’s fears. He was never good in dealing with others, humans especially because he had to hold his tongue more often than not so he wouldn’t accidentally try and tell stories when he had to face his own personal fear. Of all people Viktor knew Chris was the best one to deal with feelings. But Chris seemed hostile against Yuuri just yesterday and trying to get Yuuri to talk with the Swiss Incubus…

Applause echoed through the building and Viktor knew that whoever had skated just now had most likely done pretty well. But when he turned around to see blank fear written into his students face he instantly jumped forward and covered Yuuri’s ears to spare him from letting his thoughts wander too far.

“Don’t listen!” He demanded harshly, his accent heavy and his wings instinctively returning on their right place, feathers bristling in anger. Yuuri had dropped his headphones, and looked up into the blue eyes that burned with a fire of thousand suns, daring him to deny his order. He shrank in Viktor’s hold but it was already to late. He could feel his anxiety breaking free, and in an attempt to keep it at bay he asked if it wasn’t time for them to return because he was almost up. He went on to go past Viktor, sidestepping the still bristled wings like it was an everyday thing to do and Viktor was at the end of his knowledge. He could no longer endure the fear and pain in these brown eyes that seemed like the raven-haired man was haunted, couldn’t endure Yuuri picking his already low self-esteem apart and shredding it into tiny little pieces that was part of him.

“Yuuri.” He called the other, his voice strangely calm and empty of every feeling. Maybe Yuuri needed to fall so he could learn to fly.

“If you mess up this free skate and miss the podium, I’ll take responsibility by resigning as your coach.”

And when Yuuri turned back to him, Viktor could see him fall, see his heart that belonged to a once fan boy who could still not believe that Viktor was there to guide him and find the mystery around the persona known as Yuuri Katsuki. He needed the fanboy, the human heart to shatter so he could pick it up again and hopefully let it soar once it is nursed back.

Tears rolled and Viktor didn’t like how much it affected him. He knew that he had already in a way bonded with Yuuri that was by far more than a friendship like he shared with Christophe, a way that made his own inner being rattle whenever he _was not_ close to the Japanese man. His wings sank with the sudden rush of guilt when he watched Yuuri tear up.

“Why would you say something like that, like you’re trying to test me?” Yuuri hickuped, stumbling over his English, his own accent tickly entwined in his sobbed words. The guilt sat heavily on Viktor’s shoulders and he tried to apologize, telling Yuuri that he didn’t mean it like this but the younger man ignored him.

“I am used to be blamed for my own failures! But this time, I am anxious because my will reflect on you too! I’ve been wondering if you secretly want to quit!” Yuuri cried and didn’t even try to whip his tears away. Viktor understood now. He never gave much about how people thought about him outside of his own skating but Yuuri took everything to heart. And it seemed to be like he would take his own failure as reason that he failed his family and friends too. Like the time they invested in him was gone to waste.

“Of course I don’t.” Viktor denied, grateful to finally know what stood between them all the time, why Yuuri always tried so hard to please everyone around him.

“I know!” the raven-haired skater shouted and Viktor felt a bit helpless when Yuuri wouldn’t stop crying. He was a warrior, had fought year on the ice and as guardian alone, and now having someone depending on him felt awkward even if his magical side nudged him to hold Yuuri and offer physical support with emotional, but with all the signals Yuuri gave to him since they became closer and the story of the girl that tried to hug him he knew it would be wrong.

“I am not good with people crying in front of me.” He honestly said, “I don’t know what I should do. Should I just kiss you or something?”

This nonchalant question seemed to get Yuuri out of his funk because he refused instantly and wanted just one thing from Viktor.

“Just have more faith than I do that I’ll win! You don’t have to say anything. Just stand by me!” Yuuri demanded and it felt like a shift happened right then and there. Viktor could only stare because these words burned themselves in him. And he didn’t miss the surge of magical energy that went to the younger skater and how pleased his Nephil purred deep within him. Something was about to happen but they couldn’t stay and wait. Their time was almost up before Yuuri had to step onto the ice and so they went up back to the backstage rooms. Viktor laid a hand securely on Yuuri’s shoulder, who didn’t refuse the touch for once, and signalized him that he was there and ready to do just what Yuuri had asked him. To stand with him.

Viktor watched Yuuri changing his shoes to his skates and watched that the still shaking Yuuri wouldn’t accidentally lace his skates the wrong way but years of skating made it muscle memory. They went together to the entrance, Viktor was just a step behind his ‘student’, near enough that it leaning forward or backward could brush them together.

When Georgi left the ice Yuuri went on it, silently handing his guards to Viktor who took them and nodded to Yuuri to approve some warm-up laps. Georgi’s score was announced and the Japanese skater returned to him and took one of the offered tissues and used it. He still looked miserable but better than he was in the garage. Viktor offered to take the used tissue and Yuuri was about to hand it but suddenly dropped it. The silver-haired Russian jumped after it, leaning halfway over the rink railing and was surprised when Yuuri suddenly poked his crown and took off to take the starting position of his program.

For Yuuri it felt a lot easier. His fears nearly all washed away by his tears it was easier to think about better thinks. Like Viktor’s expression when he started to cry. A smile tugged at his lips and he gained speed for his first jump. He nailed the quad-double combination and it felt good. It felt just like… like flying. He was heaven a bit closer when he jumped.  
He let his thoughts wander with his skating. Wander to Viktor, who was actually able to fly. And he knew just as much as Viktor did how much of a fool Viktor could be. The big dork just jumped in his life after being just an idol, and a tiny bit of a crush, in his life and turned everything upside down, knowing how badly Yuuri scored in Sochi, where a combination of his anxiety, grieving and whatever else happened back then brought him to his knees.

The quad Salchow came easily this time. He didn’t struggle to land it, maybe he just took enough out of Yurio’s book about being angry to actually land this jump. For a while he let his own thoughts get blank, concentrating on his routine that was so much more than anything that Yuuri had ever skated. It was a story about his own life and how much he struggled and fought by himself. He knew that his family and friends like Phichit or Yuuko were always there, but they gave him room when he felt like falling apart. Viktor on the other hand insisted to stay where he was, neither coming to close nor staying to far. He could reach out for the Russian, ask for him to come closer every second but until now he just pushed him away but the living legend of their sport kept coming back… and Yuuri was grateful for that.

He wondered how Viktor would react when he would offer to finally come close in the very own strange language that they developed over all these months.  
Shaking off the over-rotation of the 3-part combination he went on and perfected the next one. He wasn’t tired, not at all. He felt like carried on a high.

 _I want to become stronger… I can be stronger!_ _I can surpass Viktor’s wildest imagination!_ He promised and pushed forward. Every part of his step sequence felt like he readied himself like he opened a set of wings for the first time in his life to risk the flight out of a secured place.

Yuuri did not go for the entry of the quad toe loop. He went for the flip, even if he knew that he didn’t have it down, but the moment he jumped he felt like he took off and finally reached for Viktor, finally closed the space between them, even if messed up the landing.

Breathing hard from the sudden rush of fatigue he went into the last spins and ignored the annoying tugging on his back. He reached and asked himself why Viktor looked so strangely, pressing his hands to his face, only to start running. It looked so strange when the Russian Nephil pushed himself helplessly with his wings, after being grace himself whenever he did something similar in Hasetsu when they chased each other over the beach. But it seemed to work because Yuuri practically could feel the excitement and something else waving off from Viktor. He pushed himself forward on the ice to meet with Viktor at the entrance.

“Viktor! I did great, right?” He asked, not able to contain his own joy and excitement.

And Viktor jumped, his wings flared out like on instinct to slow down his fall, and nocked Yuuri down with him. Pain shot through his back and it felt awkward but the moment was overridden by something totally else. Viktor’s soft lips on his own. The way he entwined his fingers in his own black hair. The Russian purred low and deep into the kiss and Yuuri could feel the same strange thing that paced within him ever since Sochi purr in pure bliss too. _He_ purred in pure bliss and a soft whine escaped his lips unwillingly when Viktor retreated to look into his eyes. 

The flight back to Japan was rather quiet. Yuuri still looked exhausted, still not used that he can ‘will’ those pretty white wings with black tipped feathers away. They were drabbed around him, Viktor knew from experience that the Yuuri will regret it later when he would wake up because the stiffness would take its time to go out. Viktor couldn’t imagine how much energy it had costed Yuuri after he was finally ‘birthed’ as Nephilim but he was happy. All the time his inner being wanting to be with Yuuri was correct. Yuuri looked so regal when he danced his exhibition skate at the end of the Cup of China. He looked like a natural, his wings not bothering him once on the ice, still having no control over them just yet. The Japanese skater was exhausted afterwards, his energy levels low since his awakening but they managed to get back to the hotel that night before passing out cold.

“This is the only thing I could think of to surprise you more than you’ve ever surprised me,” Viktor told him lowly and his eyes glistered with tears of joy.

“Really?” Yuuri asked.

“Just look at you, all the time I searched and was blind but here you are, my perfect angel,” Viktor said and Yuuri laughed.

“You are the one with a set of wings, Viktor, not me!” Yuuri said and promptly slapped his hand over his mouth but Viktor grabbed after something besides the raven-haired skater and Yuuri jolted up at the sudden pain. Looking at the cause of it he saw Viktor’s fingers pinching a feather on wings that didn’t belong there. The feathers were white with black tips, the exact opposite of Viktor’s black and white- tipped ones.

“You really didn’t know… Yuuri… you…”

“Viktor, remove yourself and that student of yours from the ice and go to the Kiss and Cry!” Yakov barked next to them and Viktor helped Yuuri up, slightly laughing how the Japanese skater suddenly struggled with the new attachment on his back.

They went on to the Kiss and Cry and Yuuri somehow managed to get the wings out of his way so he could sit. Viktor’s own wings were right next to them and Yuuri really had a hard time to concentrate on the score, wanting to marvel a bit more about how everything fell in place like this.

He placed second. Phichit, Chris and nearly everyone else stormed to them, congratulating each other and most of all him and Viktor.

“About time that this pinning ends! You two fit each other perfectly!” Chris laughed, and slapped Yuuri’s shoulder. It would be painfully if he wasn’t flashed like this. Phichit shrieked more than once and Yuuri could swear something moved over his best friends skin what looked like three small dragon tattoos. He didn’t ask questions, just leaned back onto Viktor who seemed to take his new role like a fish to water, and tugged Yuuri close by his waist, pressing his back and wings against Viktor’s chest

They were interrupted by ISU officials announcing that they were ready for the medaling ceremony but everyone wanted to talk as soon as possible. Yuuri was happy, tired and had so many questions but they could wait for now.  
Sharing a podium with Phichit was a good feeling. His best friend deserved it, he worked so hard to be where he was and even Chris wasn’t bitter about the fact that he was pegged down a place and promised he would come for them in the Final. Viktor took over the interviews, smiling brightly into the cameras and telling them he was proud to be Yuuri’s coach.

The ISU asked him to do an exhibition the next day.

That night Yuuri dropped in his bed once he left the shower. He was dead tired but he still waited for Viktor to join him. On the whole ride back to the hotel the Russian had whispered sweet nothings to him and promised that they would push the beds together so they had enough space to lay together. The silver-haired man promised he would explain when Yuuri wasn’t as tired as he would be the next few days, telling him that they should just concentrate on the exhibition tomorrow.  
Tired as he was Yuuri just nodded in agreement and when Viktor climbed into their bed next to him he felt complete.

The next morning was a bit slow, both didn’t want to leave the warmth of the bed and Yuuri groaned when he felt that he laid wrongly on his new wings. Viktor gave him a tired chuckle, stretching his limbs to get the sleep out of them.

“I will help you with them when you get ready for practice. It must be awkward to get used to your wings like that.” He said softly and combed his fingers through the still fuzzy feathers. Yuuri shuddered at the feeling. His wings were so sensitive to touch and Viktor didn’t miss the shudder.

“Oh! I am sorry, Yuuri, the feathers are still growing out. They will be sensitive for a while.” He apologized and the raven-haired man nodded, letting Viktor smooth the ruffled feathers. His wings weren’t as large or regal as Viktor’s own. The Russian seemed to know what was going through him because he laughed softly.

“They will grow in now time, Zolotsye moy.” He whispered and softly guided his lover’s head to his own. Yuuri was still fazed by the fact that Viktor was his. And he was Viktor’s. He let himself be guided by Viktor who closed the distance slowly and once again the Russian’s smooth lips touched his, first a bit hesitating, like asking Yuuri if he wanted to go further, the more demanding. The Japanese closed his eyes, leaning into the kiss, slightly pushing back. It was so strange and new. It was breathtaking.  
Viktor smiled against his lips and then sighed.

“As much as I would love to keep going this, we have to go to practice.” The Russian said and Yuuri agreed. He changed in his usual training gear, shuddering again when his shirt and jacket just passed by his wings. He didn’t ask why it would do this, after everything he had seen he could imagine that magic existed and did its job just fine. A small smug smile tugged at his lip when he thought at the poor souls that wouldn’t believe him back in elementary school. Just before they were about to leave Viktor flicked his forehead and Yuuri was confused about what just happened but when Viktor signalized to his own wingless back he understood.

“I suppressed your Nephil. He will most likely throw a fit later but skating with wings is a bit too much for you right now.” The Russian explained and guided him out of their room to catch a taxi.

Practice was fun. From the male skaters, Phichit, Guang Hong and he were asked to perform an exhibition. Together with the female skaters, pairs and ice dancers they did a bit of choreography together where they would thank their audience for a smooth event. They loosely went one by one on the ice after that, going through their exhibition program. Phichit had to get the tackiest song of all of them. He would skate to _Dark Horse_ from Katy Perry and enjoyed himself a tad too much but they laughed a lot once Phichit went of the ice.

“Celestino was about to skin me when we went through my music choices,” Phichit told him. And Yuuri could imagine. His friend would either choose the worst songs out there or go for another performance to one of the ‘ _King and the Skater’_ songs.

Once Yuuri went trough his program, only marking his jumps on order of his coach, they went and met with everyone who was in China. Viktor even invited Minako and so they met in a small café that Guang Hong suggested.

Phichit openly admitted that he thanked every god of the universe that Yuuri _DID NOT_ die, getting a nod from Chris.

“Is this why you fussed so much when I went back to Japan?” Yuuri asked and Phichit nodded seriously. At least his friend had worried about him for a good reason.

“I think some of us even need to apologize for giving you the cold shoulder,” Chris admitted and Yuuri was shocked when nearly all of them nervously nodded. Minako from her side of the table snorted softly.

“Even if he was a walker, Yuuri couldn’t harm a fly.” She said.

“I… why are you here Minako?” Yuuri asked her since this seemed to be a gathering of all the ‘magical’ creatures one could offer.

“I am a witch.” She shrugged nonchalantly and the Japanese skater gabbed at her and the laughed.

“Mari called you that all the time when we were kids.”

“Mari always had quiet the fantasy. And before you ask, no one in your family can see what we see. They are normal humans but I believe Viktor will explain it to you once we return to Hasetsu.” Minako snarked and they laughed.

“Oh! Oh Yuuri, now I can tell you! My hamsters are indeed dragons! I am a dragon- mage.” Phichit eagerly told him.

“Let’s go on with the introduction… I am an Incubus. No man will stand my sex-appeal.” Chris boasted and Viktor laughed at his friend’s antics.

“Yuuri can!”

“I am still not sure if he is really a half angel. Could have fooled me with that Eros routine.”

“I am a white Cadejo.” Leo interrupted the bickering between Viktor and Chris.

“China’s Qinglong! I am a bit more powerful than any of the dragons Phichit could tame.” Quang Hong snickered and Phichit blew him a raspberry. After that, it went on like a normal lunch under friends. Their gathering slowly ended when some of them wanted to take a nap before tonight’s exhibition or needed to meet up with someone. In the end, even Yuuri and Viktor left Phichit and Chris alone who was to busy to argue who was the ‘better best friend’.

“I have a surprise,” Viktor said halfway to the hotel and got a raised eyebrow. He snickered gleefully like a child and Yuuri didn’t give him the satisfaction to pout.  
Once in their room, Viktor showed him the surprise and Yuuri gasped at the costume laid in front of him. It was a blue version of Viktor’s own _Stammi Vicino_ costume, but with its own changes. Some of the chords were placed differently from what he could remember, but he still loved it.

“After the regional competition, I had to get you your own version of it!” The older Nephil said gleefully and Yuuri couldn’t help but kiss the man. It shut the silver-haired Russian up but didn’t stop him from smiling like a fool.

“I just whished we could skate it together.” Yuuri let slip and slapped a hand over his mouth. He watched Viktor’s eyes widen and could practically see the gear moving in the legendary skater’s brain. He was seriously considering it.

“That is actually a good idea,” Viktor said calmly and then the smile returned, even bigger than before, threatening to split the man’s face.

“Actually, it was a duet before it was an aria! I will think about how we can change the choreography to fit a pair skate! Yuuri imagine the surprise of everyone to see us TOGETHER on the ice!” Viktor rambled and the Japanese man sighed contently, listening to the plans Viktor rattled down.  
That evening, when Yuuri went on the ice and the spotlight captured him, he enjoyed the reaction of the audience. He always enjoyed to perform without the pressure of judges in his neck and once again he proved to them why he was one of Japan’s best.

~*~

Hours later they landed and Viktor, for the first time, regretted to wake up Yuuri. His beautiful angel, half-angel looked so much at peace.

“Yuuri.” He tried to call him but the raven-haired man wasn’t bothered. Viktor knew it was a mean trick, Yakov has used it a lot when he was younger, so he gently picked at the sensitive blood-feathers that still developed the full might of Yuuri’s wings. The younger man swatted Viktor’s hand away, mumbling incoherent curses and rubbed the sleep of his eyes. Viktor smiled brightly at Yuuri and gave his soulmate his glasses back.

“You are mean,” Yuuri mumbled, slowly combing through the offended feathers of his wing and smoothed them back.

“And you still look like a molting bird. Love, we are landing soon.” Viktor snickered and the other Nephil sighed deeply, trying to order his limbs in his seat and Viktor skillfully dodged getting accidentally swatted by a wing. Yuuri awkwardly tried to copy Viktor into willing his wings away but it didn’t work. He huffed in annoyance. Viktor smiled at him and took his hand in his own and rubbed small circles with his thumb over the smooth skin on Yuuri’s backhand.

“Relax. Getting annoyed is just what your inner being is trying to do. Right now, you and it are not in sync. Think about little Yura, your Nephil is a bit like a stubborn brat, like Yura. Coax him into liking you.” Viktor explained but at the end it didn’t work. Yuuri ignored it because it wouldn’t take long until they left the plane.  
They were lucky to get their suitcases fast and caught one of the last trains to Hasetsu, otherwise, they would have needed to stay a night at a hotel. Yuuri leaned into Viktor the whole ride. It just felt right that way.

“You promised to explain everything to me, once we are back home.” Yuuri suddenly mumbled and Viktor nodded.

“I did. I will not forget it Yuuri. There is a lot to take in I can imagine.”

“Oh, the worst I have already seen. Just… I would like to have an overview of what is going on and what role I have in all of this.” Yuuri sighed and Viktor promised he would explain once again.  
They arrived really late. Mari helped to get their package as silently up to Viktor’s room as possible because the Katsuki parents already retired to bed. Mari just gave them a tired wink when she left the room, not even bothering to tease her brother how he would now stay in the same room as Viktor.  
The moment they had changed into their night clothing, Viktor even put on sweat-pants so Yuuri wouldn’t be uncomfortable, they fell into the bed. Traveling always exhausted Yuuri and he was already tired enough.

“Yuuri, sleep, we have all time tomorrow and every day after that,” Viktor demanded, but his voice soft and he was tired too. They tangled into each other that night, searching for the warmth of their mate.  
They awoke at the same time the following morning, just staring at each other for a while, not bothered by anything or the fact that both had their wings strangely drabbed around each other so they had ended up in a cocoon of feathers black and white.

“We are really each other halves.” Viktor mused and got a questioning glance.

“Our kind, Yuuri, the Nephilim are born in pairs. Or at least end up as pairs. You are strong where I am weak. It doesn’t necessarily fit on everything, but I think Ying and Yang would fit as the best explanation. We are two halves of one thing.”

“Ying and Yang… but we are not good and evil. I mean, you can be a sadistic ass when it comes to training but I am used to it.” Yuuri slightly joked and Viktor grunted in mock hurt.

“That is where our ancestors come in. Our kind comes from the linage of pure angels who gave in into lust for human women. That is why our wings will never be spotless white.”

“But I know both of my parents and neither mom nor dad looks like Nephilim. I would have seen it otherwise. And I don’t know about your ancestors…”

“Oh, don’t worry on my side. My parents were Nephilim on both sides, making me a strong enough offspring to develop my own set of wings. Yuuri, I… when I was new in Hasetsu, I talked to Minako. Do you remember a man named Mamoru?” He asked and watched how Yuuri literally looked for the memory.

“I think I have some fuzzy memories. Why? If I remember right Minako told me and Mari that he died in an accident.”

“He was an actual angel Yuuri. Your guardian angel to be correct. Something happened and he gave up living to rescue you. With that he blessed you and until the day I met you in Sochi your Nephil slumbered and waited for them moment to awake. That is why you were able to see my, our world. You already had the potential but needed the nudge to awake.” He said with a somber smile. Viktor remembered the unshed tears in Minako’s eyes when she talked about the long-gone lover. But Viktor gained his thanks to the angel’s scarify.

“Sochi?”

“You were attacked. Look.” Viktor said and pushed Yuuri’s t-shirt up, ignoring the blush on his mate’s cheeks. Three ugly scars still shimmered in the morning sun. The skin around them had already smoothed out but they were still present. It would take a while until they faded enough.

“I thought I had broken a rib in the warm-up. Landed badly… And then Vicchan…”

“Brains are tricky finding excuses and yours couldn’t explain what happened, and with the blood loss, it decided to make something up. I really hoped you wouldn’t take part in the free skate with that injury but I know better now. You are worse than me when it comes to loose.” Viktor chuckled and Yuuri smacked him lightly.

“I just never noticed them before…”

“Probably because Chris and I made a spell that wouldn’t affect you and would cover what happened.”

“That… was the first time you fought a demon for me I guess,” Yuuri mumbled Viktor hummed.

“I should have known that you have seen the attack a few months ago. I sensed you but didn’t quiet understand it until you already fled the scene.”

“We are guardians. What do we guard at all?”

“We took over the guardian role a long time ago. But you are no guardian Yuuri. Don’t feel like you have to fulfill anything because you certainly don’t have to. I know what I do. I watch out for both sides, the human and the hidden world. Sometimes they clash, like I believed it happened back in Sochi. Demons are unruly beasts, crossing the layer to gather human souls to drag them into hell at their weakest point. Most of the time when death is near. I was so worried…” Viktor barely whispered and Yuuri let the Russian squeeze him a bit. Viktor was clearly disturbed at the thought and he didn’t like it.

“How can I not be a guardian when you are?”

“Heaven would contact you. An arch angel would ask for your help against hell, but it mostly depends where you are. Hasetsu… Is calm and not haunted by demons like most parts of Russia. My parents fell to them...”

“But how did you manage skating and doing the guardian thing?” Yuuri asked and Viktor sighed.

“The time between juniors and seniors… The first 3 years I didn’t place well was because Yakov had to put me together more than once. I fought more than I skated. I was angrier than Yurio.”  
Yuuri snorted, not able to see his Viktor like anything but a dork. Viktor fought and could be savage when rubbed the wrong way, but it didn’t bother him like it should.

A knock on the door forced them out of their small world.

“I don’t want to see naked bodies, so better you two stand up and have breakfast before Minako haunts you down,” Mari yelled and Yuuri huffed. Viktor chuckled and kissed Yuuri’s forehead and they untangled their cocoon of feathers and limbs.  
It still felt strange how the clothing parted around his wings.

“You have to show me everything I can do with my wings,” Yuuri demanded and his lover agreed. They went down to the rest of the family who greeted and congratulated to them in more than one way. Hiroko fussed a lot around Viktor, thanking him in every way possible. Yuuri enjoyed Viktor’s embarrassment when she started to call him a son, which seemed to turn Viktor into a pile of goo too, and Mari trying to give him the shovel talk about not playing with her brother.  
Toshiya just gave Viktor an approving nod the rest of the breakfast went on rather calmly.

Viktor actually declared it Yuuri’s free day but they still went to the rink. Not like usually when Yuuri would run after Viktor, who would ride a bike, and Makkachin, but they walked together, the old puddle running ahead of them, never to far away. For both Hasetsu seemed brighter than usual, its colors shining lushly in the still warm autumn sun. People greeted them like usually but also shouted their congratulations. Yuuri held his head low in embarrassment but Viktor nudged him to be proud on his own accomplishment. The younger man shyly thanked them with small waves in their direction.

Once they reached Ice Castle Hasetsu they were tackled down by three girls, talking ways to fast for anyone to understand them. Yuuko came to their rescue and picked her kids of them. Takeshi joined their small group and once the girls calmed enough to speak coherent sentences Viktor and Yuuri did what they wanted. Yuuri blushed brightly when they waved with a XXL poster in front of them, a close shot of them just staring in each other’s eyes. 

“How?” Yuuri just asked and Yuuko sighed.

“They ordered the moment it popped up on the internet.” Takeshi boasted and they watched Viktor eagerly scribbling a note in Russian on the poster. Yuuri didn’t know what he wrote for the girls but managed to interrupt his boyfriend from ordering on for himself.

“You don’t need this!” Yuuri stammered and the Russian gabbed at him but then he nodded, putting down his phone.

“Yes, because we can always do this. The real thing is better.” He teased and Yuuri couldn’t stop himself from blushing a lovely shade of red once again. Yuuko, playfully fearing to what this would lead used the chance to shoo her girls away, leaving Takeshi behind who gave them a hard stare.

“Nothing filthy on my ice or I will charge you guys fees, Katsuki, Nikiforov.”, Nishigori said sickly sweet and then laughed at their shocked faces. He retreated into his office and left the athletes behind who chuckled nervously.  
Soon after Viktor and Yuuri chased each other playfully over the ice. Viktor declared it a chance for Yuuri to get used to skating with his wings but the Russian easily got bored and declared that Yuuri ‘ _was it’_ and took off in neck breaking speed to reach the far side to the chaser.

Both knew, would they still be under their coaches they would have received the scolding of their lives with the dangerous quick stops and moves that rather belonged to hockey than figure skating they pulled off.  
In the end, when Viktor ‘ _was it_ ’, the Russian caught Yuuri by his hips and explementary tried to lift his boyfriend. Yuuri went stiff when suddenly his feet left the ground and tried not to struggle against in out of reflex. As soon as he left the ice he was back on it and he turned to the silver-haired man.

“You still want to do a pair skate out of my exhibition?” Yuuri asked and Viktor nodded eagerly.

“We could pull it off. Just have to train a bit my strength. I mean, we have a bit more time to work on it now that both of your programs work fine. We still need to polish one thing or another but we can easily spare an hour of our rink time to work on it.” The silver-haired Nephil eagerly told him and Yuuri agreed. The song meant a lot to both of them and skating it together would be beautiful.

“But let’s not start with lifting. I would rather not experience to fall from a lift without knowing how to catch myself.” The raven-haired Nephil said and Viktor laughed.

“You are right. How about synchronized skating? It has been a while since we did it!”

Once they finished their try for a pair skate Yuuri and Viktor went to a rather secluded place of Hasetsu. They sat cross-legged facing each other on an old bench, Makkachin sleeping under it, and Viktor started to explain a bit more about their nature. Thanks to them being half -  human they were not permanently bound to their wings. Yuuri nodded, he had seen the Russian more than once without them.

“They are bound to the creature within us. Some describe them as a second persona because they are everything the angels passed down to us, including their character traits. My mom was sweet on her human side, but once she fully went with her Nephil she was savage to those who stood in her way. She believed that somewhere in her line was a warrior. My Nephil comes from my father’s line of successful guardian angels. They were all a bit strong headed but good fighters.”

“Since I am kind of a direct descendent of an angel it would make me a guardian too, like Mamoru.” Yuuri resumed from the new knowledge.

“Yes! But from Minako’s stories about him, I could tell that he was a kind soul. You and he are not that much different.” Viktor said, “But it seems like he could be just as stubborn as a mule like you, and incredibly proud of himself finally being awake. That is why your Nephil is refusing to cover your wings.” A sigh escaped Yuuri’s lips and he nodded understanding. He was just as proud as his inner Being for being Viktor’s other half and not being a freak of nature.

“What about the purring and all the emotions coming from them?”

“Their way to communicate with us. No one really knows why they don’t use words.”

“We probably should work on how I will retract the wings.” Yuuri sighed and Viktor agreed. They had talked about how Yuuri probably shouldn’t have his wings out in a competition because they easily could be used to cheat, even if it is just on instinct. The Russian suggested that they would try to use mediation but his method was unconventional at best. Viktor came closer and leaned forward, his forehead touching Yuuri’s own. For a moment they looked into each other’s eyes and it feel like their were in their own personal bubble. The wind quietly ruffled leaves and swayed the grass underneath their bench. Makkachin’s snoring and their own breathes.

“Close your eyes.” The Russian instructed, interrupting the sound of nature, and Yuuri followed. It didn’t take long until their breaths were synchronized and Yuuri felt the pressure of years of anxiety lifting for the moment.

“Inner peace will make it easier for you and the Nephil to tune into each other. Make him your shadow, attached to you but not yourself.”

The mental image appearing in front of Yuuri was a field of ice. It didn’t feel cold like it was supposed to, it felt like he belonged to the ice. It was always a huge part of his life. When he looked around he found himself, a bit wilder and maybe more like a teen version of him. The raven-haired man nodded acknowledging into the winged-version of him and it stepped closer, a soft purr rumbling from his chest.

He took a moment to study the Nephil side of his. It wore a silvery battle armor that looked pretty similar to what the battle-ready Viktor wore when he fought off the demons. His mystical counterpart also was an empty sheath on his belt. Something seemed to belong there but was lost.

“I would like to ask you to put my, our wings away.” He asked the mute Nephil. The other him bristled and the still not fully-grown feathers stood on edge like he didn’t agree. He argued a bit with the winged man but when ice hissed both of them looked up to two new figures entering the plain ice fields. A mighty wave of love and belonging rolled from both winged creatures and Yuuri shuddered pleasantly. He shared that feeling just as much for Viktor who smiled brightly.

“This is only possible because we belong to each other,” Viktor whispered but it was loud enough for Yuuri to hear and smiling brightly at his lover.

“I think even without all of this I would love you, Viktor. I have done so before.” He said and stepped forward to put his arms around Viktor’s mid, tiptoeing to steal a kiss from the taller man’s lips. Viktor giggled and returned it.

And then they returned to the real world, the image of the plain ice field vanishing and Yuuri blinked a few times to realize what just happened. He didn’t feel the weight of wings anymore on his back and it seemed like whatever Viktor and his own Nephil did it worked out.

“He is a much more brat-y version of you. Nothing compared to Yurio, but no one can beat Yurio, to be honest.” Viktor snorted and Yuuri had to agree.

“Why did it work then? He just blocked all my argument and you appear and he is happy to obey.” Yuuri pouted and the Russian shrugged.

“Give a kid its candy? He might have been jealous because we could see each other but they can’t most of the time. Only when we use our traits we allow them some contact. I am just surprised that he liked to be on a plain field of ice.”

“Why?” Yuuri asked, seeing nothing wrong.

“I guess it is true that we are the opposites of each other because mine likes stuffed placed with a lot of fire. But we are getting a bit too far into it for now. Let’s go home.” Viktor suggested and Yuuri agreed. It was getting late after all.

They had a bit of time between Cup of China and the Rostelecom Cup. They went to practice early, always ending with a bit of choreography for the Stammi Vicino Duet, more than once they had to remind the Nishigori triplets that this was going to be a surprise and no they couldn’t post a video of it, and either went to Minako’s place first to train the lifts on dry ground, or went directly for their secluded place. Viktor showed him some simple magic there, or they went through the theory of flying. When asked why they didn’t actually tried to fly Viktor explained how hard it would be to explain since when humans could fly. They could try in nighttime once their schedule wasn’t as packed as now but until then the best Yuuri could try was to hovering over the ground. It was better that way because it only took him a few minutes until he felt tired, missing the experience and strength in his back to stay longer in the air. But Viktor praised him even if it felt like small progress.

Another positive side effect was the connection he built to his Nephil. The ‘flying’ pleased him a lot and made Yuuri’s life a bit easier. He now could ‘will’ his wings away whenever he wished and even somehow communicate with the winged creature without getting pouts or ruffled feathers. Yuuri often saw in the Nephil more like his inner child, a bit too playful for his own good but sometimes he just channeled the playfulness and surprised Viktor. It often ended with them tackling each other either on the ice, ending in a similar but uninterrupted way like after the Free Skate in China, or a bit steamier when they were alone. They grew impossible close and Yuuri would be always embarrassed when someone teased him with that fact.

It didn’t take very long until he grew a bit restless. Like a bad feeling. It wasn’t his anxiety acting up but an actual bad feeling. It was the strongest when he looked into the mirror and saw three fading scars on his chest. The feeling of helplessness that came whenever he tried to remember what happened in Sochi was stronger than ever. He didn’t want to feel it again, ever, and he didn’t want other to fight his fights. And like always he worried more over the fact that Viktor could get hurt because he was not able to defend himself, than getting hurt himself. And he had learned that Russia was one of the places with the highest demon appearance around from Viktor telling him some stories.

Two weeks before the Rostelecom Cup would start he asked. Viktor wouldn’t want him to become a guardian of the worlds but at least he would like to learn how to defend himself. He wasn’t the type to pick fights when not needed.

“Viktor, teach me how to fight. I don’t want to be defenseless any longer.”


	8. Chapter 8

At first, Viktor just starred and it made Yuuri nervous. Normally the Russian was eager to help him out or teach him something but right now he didn’t respond. And then he bristled. Yuuri saw how his eyes darkened like someone muffled a flame, saw how Viktor’s relaxed posture turned into one that screamed fight and felt how his Nephil bared his teeth at the sudden anger rolling of his mate.

“Don’t you trust me?” He asked, looming over him.

“I do. You proved me more than once that you are capable to protect me, Viktor, but we won’t be always attached at the hip so you can watch me 24/7.” He scoffed and his lover reconsidered his own harsh words. The silver-haired man sighed and nodded.

“You are probably true, but that doesn’t mean that I like it. Most of all not between competitions.”

“I know, I don’t like it too, but please believe me when I say I don’t want a repetition of Sochi. I don’t want you to fight alone too. And most of all I want to be able to defend those close to me.” Yuuri mumbled and Viktor stepped forward to hug him, pressing his lips to Yuuri’s forehead before he rested his head on Yuuri’s shoulder.

“I am sorry that I snapped at you. I just don’t want to see you in danger.” Viktor apologized and the promised they would begin his training after they were done with their daily skating regime. The plan was not only teaching Yuuri how to effectively fight in combat but to combine it with everything else Yuuri had still to learn.  
At first, the raven-haired skater thought Viktor was trying to push off the training that day, he did his best to tire Yuuri with doing his routines over and over again but he was stubborn. And when he didn’t tire after lunch Viktor gave up on his attempt. Even if Yuuri was slightly winded after so many repetitions he still could go on.

This time they didn’t go to their usual place. Viktor deemed it not secure enough since magical weapons and magic itself were hard to cover once they burned themselves into the earth. They went a bit further away from Hasetsu, and once they found a safe place Viktor grabbed his belt and Yuuri automatically blushed deeply.  
Viktor was not blind and actually laughed at Yuuri’s embarrassment. The belt turned out to look a lot like a leathery braided band and once Viktor grabbed one end it turned in a whip one, the end going stiff to form the handle, flames roaring alive and designer clothes disappearing for the golden harness that looked a lot like the one of an ancient Greek soldier. Once again Viktor’s wings looked mightier than he could remember. He stepped closer to inspect his partner. Viktor shamelessly purred under Yuuri’s careful tracing fingers following still visible scars. The Russian couldn’t remember how many he had, and whenever he appeared just as Nephilim or human he hid them from others. He was not ashamed of his life as guardian on earth. He would send every creature back that didn’t belong here if they crossed his path and threatened what he loved the most.  
But the scars were a good warning for everyone, scaring the opponent when they saw that he survived.

“Yuuri”, he purred when gentle fingers on his skin made it prickle, “You should stop this if you still want to go on or I cannot promise to ravish you right here.”  
Viktor snorted when Yuuri looked like he burned himself on him and the younger man wore a cute blush, but soon shook it off. His lover then stepped into his own inner being, the feathers were now much smoother but still remembered one of a young bird, just old enough to fly out of a safe nest forever.

The fluff clung to Yuuri longer than Viktor had expected. He grew up with his wings, they developed over his whole life so he had his fair share of fluffy feathers up until his teen years when they started to become strong, but Yuuri was a full-grown man when he got his wings, and the fluff should have been gone after one week or maybe two when the remiges-feathers had grown to their full length.

And this fluff made Yuuri looking a tad ridicules when he looked proud down at himself, wearing a silver version of his own armor. The joke ‘silver looks good on you’ brought only a playful growl and the promise that he could wear gold just as good.

He studied Yuuri’s full mythical form to find what he was looking for. But Yuuri’s Nephil didn’t seem to be bound to a weapon. He should have known it due to Yuuri being the first and the last of _Mamoru’s_ line of Nephilim. More often than not angels pass down a weapon or more in their line, often giving the off-springs to choose, but it only happened when the angel was fathering a child and knew it would happen.  
And Mamoru gave his sword to the demons of the sea, who gave it to the demon that intruded Hasetsu a while ago and he had brought it back to Minako. He left Yuuri only with the empty sheath.

“I know what weapon you need.” He said and Yuuri perked up, his eyes twinkling with excitement that Viktor had seen so often when Yuuri bloomed. On the ice, it was more often than off, because the ice is where Yuuri had learned to be just himself, and it had brought him always a bit closer to who he was, even before he knew, and at the end even brought him to Viktor.

“We can get it later, but let us try to use magic first.” The Russian suggested and Yuuri nodded eagerly.

“First of all, our battle magic doesn’t come with spells,” Viktor said and flopped down on the ground. It would take a while to explain.

“Then how does it work?” Yuuri asked, his forehead wrinkled and Viktor laughed softly.

“Intuition. We are not as magical as dragons, mages or witches. Our magic is limited to our Nephilim’s element. Mine is fire, yours is ice.” He told him and Yuuri nodded understanding somehow.

“The only magic we can cast by spells are smaller healing spells. We excel in combat, are faster thanks to our wings in most situations. I can do some basic fire tricks but they cost a lot of energy and tire one fast. Watch!”  
Viktor brought his left hand up and a small flame came alive in his palm, licking his fingers and not hurting the older Nephil at all. Yuuri watched it flickering like the flame of a lighter and soon it shrank and completely vanished.

“I never really got the hang on summoning something out of the flames on my whip.” He chuckled and then told Yuuri to think really hard about what he wants to summon. Intuition was the key, that he reached out for his magical core, got a hold on it and think about the way he wanted to shape it.

And for the first time, the anxiety paid off. His brain was able to think about hundreds of bad outcomings when he was in competitions or other kinds of pressure, and now his imagination got easily a hold on what he believed was the energy coursing through his vines when he entered his Nephilim form. It was cold to touch, but felt familiar, like the ice he skated on, the ice he had learned to love and respect.

When he opened his eyes again he held two ice-daggers in every hand one. Viktor had stepped closer and looked at the weapons and chuckled.  
“I guess, you are a short to a mid-range fighter, my Yuuri.” He said, pride clearly showing, “But I think your Nephil is a bit unruly again. You were focusing on the stream and once you had it he took the liberty to form it into something he longs for. Still, not bad.”

Yuuri blushed bright red at the compliment and nodded. The ice didn’t bite him. Like when he concentrated on it, it felt like something familiar. He let go of the stream and the daggers melted in his hands instantly and once again Viktor nodded approving.

“Again. But this time something else. Think in bigger scales, maybe we can find the limit of your magic.” The Russian commanded. Now he sounded more like a coach than when he was on the ice. Yuuri gave him a smug smile, he loved the icy power of his own magic coursing through his veins.  
This time he thought about one of the silly cartoons Phichit made him watch on their free days huddled on the used couch of the small living room of their shared apartment. He had perked up at the creatures made of ice back then, more specific the ice wolves.  
It was one of these stories where he could sympathize more with the villain of the story, who summoned the ice creatures, than the hero.

He heard the gasp right next to him when he thought about the wolves. Back then he longed for Vicchan, but a skater’s life, most of all one who went off in another country, hardly allowed any pets that needed constant care and he admired Viktor for how he had cared for Makkachin all these years. When he opened his eyes three wolves made of ice sat to his feet, their eyes glowing in nearly the same shade of blue like Viktor’s did, and all three of them growled, ready to rip something into shreds like in the cartoon movie.

“This is incredible.”

“They can’t replace Makkachin,” Yuuri said and Viktor agreed with a nod, no one of them wanting to replace the loyal poodle with a wolf made of magic.

“You are far more talented in magic than I have ever seen from a Nephilim.” The silver-haired man said, not being able to control that sweet and blasted heart-shaped smile of his.

“I think that it the positive side effect of anxiety. My imagination can run wild with the magic.” Yuuri told him and the Russian agreed. But as soon as the high of the pricing went down Yuuri’s skin prickled and he looked for the cause of it. The last time he remembered this feeling was back when Viktor fought demons nearly on daily basis on Hasetsu’s outskirts. The wolves surrounded them, growling deeply. Viktor automatically pushed forward, his wings flaring in front of Yuuri like shields.

Cackling, mad throaty cackling came from the undergrowth of the forest around their clearing. Four sets of glowing red eyes shone in the darkness and slowly they stepped forward, getting ugly shapes of hunched humanoids. Yuuri heard loud growling within him, his inner guardian, the Nephil, rattled and prepared for the attack. Adrenalin made him hyper-aware and jumpier than he was shortly before a competition on his bad days.

“Yuuri, stay back.” Viktor then ordered and the raven-haired man could his patience run out. He was learning all of this to be able to stand on the same ground as Viktor. And he could never take on 4 demons who now looked at them like they were prey. One of them looked like a squid on legs and misshaped upper body with a set of humanoid arms and 8 tentacles, another looked like his upper half belonged to a shark. The other two were winged demons but they were dripping wet like they took a bath in the ocean.

“It isssssss rare to have Nephilim in thissss part of Japan playing with magic.” One of the winged demons hissed, stretching the s impossible long. Viktor shifted in front of Yuuri, his whip now in back in his hands and the wolves stepped behind their master to avoid the roaring flames.

“Even more a reason for creatures of hell to stay away. Didn’t your master teach you that playing with fire is dangerous?” The black-winged Nephil hissed like he knew what he was talking. Yuuri kept a watchful eye on the other demons who paced from foot to foot like they couldn’t hold themselves back any longer. His fingers twitched and with them his magic, the wolves to his feet reacting and flanking his unguarded side, one of them even nipping at his fingers, staying near like a protector.

“The sssssea wasssss robbed ssssomething worthier than that angel gave ussss.” The shark-faced one growled and pointed a fin at Yuuri who let a deep growl slip of his lips and was joined by Viktor and the ice wolves.

“You made the deal, there is no going back. And the sea still doesn’t belong to the underworld alone.” Viktor nearly yelled, the restrained anger clearly visible. Yuuri practically felt him shaking and the waves of anger rolling off Viktor to intimidate their enemy but they didn’t seem to notice it at all.

A sudden wave of water rolled over them, something only possible because of magic. Viktor cursed, the flames of his whip were gone and his soaked state didn’t help to ignite it again. But for Yuuri the water was perfect. He let them taunt Viktor, controlling the hiss of anger that bubbled in his throat in defense for normally so strong lover. While Viktor’s strong aura kept the demons from attacking right away Yuuri let his magic work and the left-over water was a blessing in disguise. Still hidden behind Viktor’s now in anger bristled wings, the feathers were not soaked but instead, water dropped of them like pearls, the wolves grew. With a bit of more magic, he willed a dagger in his hand but noticed that he would most likely have to drop the magic soon or even his stamina would run out.

A single hiss and Yuuri leaped over Viktor’s still sputtering form, letting his Nephil fill him with the mind and the bloodlust of a warrior, wings spreading with the leap, carrying him to his first victim and the dagger striking the surprised and slow shark-headed demon. The wolves distracted the other three while Viktor had to stare at the scene happening in front of him.

The older Nephil didn’t know how he should feel, pride and awe was the first things surfacing, but fear and raging anger soon took over, Yuuri had no combat training so far, even if he did this like a pro, but one could clearly see that the raven-haired Nephil only followed what the angels had passed down on instincts. The ice around him was a blessing because of it ‘cool dried’ his whip, and his weapon roared back alive. When he turned back to the fighting Yuuri had successfully taken down the first demon, it imploded into dust under Yuuri’s snarling and vicious stabbing into its gills.

When he swung his whip, he heard a familiar yelp of a dog like a creature being hurt and one of the wolves dissolved into sparkling ice dust. His whip reached the now free demon that was about to jump the wincing Yuuri, who had to deal with the backlash of his magic, just in time to rip him off his partner. The winged demon was not dumb, his fingers coated in water when it ripped on Viktor’s whip around its neck to bring the Russian out of balance. But Viktor knew the trick, rammed his heels into the ground and a swing of his wings let him stand sturdy in place. Yuuri used the chance to once again jump like a cat, his wings flared like a bad omen and rammed his knife directly into the creature’s skull.

A new high rushed through both of them. For Viktor, it was the first time in his life he felt complete in a fight, had someone able to reach things he had to hold off his skin. For Yuuri, it was the first time his anxiety vanished completely. His mind was set on the battle and had no space for the lingering fears he normally had. It was a kind of freedom he had longed for just as long as he had longed to skate on the same ice as Viktor.

He sent off one of the two remaining wolves to help out the other while Viktor and he dealt with the last winged demon, once again the burning whip slung around the creature, this time Viktor ripped it off its legs before the snarling demon could react, and the icy dagger found another victim.

The rush of high vanished as fast as it came. This backlash brought Yuuri to his knees, another of his wolves squished by the remaining demon. He panted, losing grip in his weaker growing stream of magic. The last wolf vanished mid-leap, only the dagger remaining, but Viktor didn’t react fast enough. The demonic squid had slung one of its tentacles around his throat and kept squeezing. Yuuri struggled, the demon ignored Viktor’s scream and the whip that burned its tentacles off. Yuuri helplessly flapped his wings and his fingers tried to pull the tentacle off, the dagger long had slipped his hands in favor to get his fingers between the tentacle and his throat so he could breathe, but nothing worked.

A shadow lunged forward, Yuuri felt a mighty gust of wind and the tentacle losing. It went completely limbless and he ripped it of him as soon as it weakened its grip around his throat. He coughed, gasping for air in harsh breaths. Viktor was on his side faster than he could notice, holding a bloody ice dagger. Yuuri dismissed it with a scrunched nose and leaned against Viktor, still gasping for air.

“You… reckless idiot.” The Russian softly scolded and a weak smile was all Yuuri could bring for. He was completely exhausted, the rush of adrenalin now gone.

“We cannot go home roughed up like this. And I am too tired to cast a spell for that bruise that will show up in your throat. What will your parents think of me when they see this?”

“Kinky foreplay?”

“Yuuri.” Viktor chuckled dryly and sighed.

“Minako. I mean, she knows about us, and she lets me stay at her place.” Yuuri suggested hoarsely, his throat still being on fire. Viktor hummed agreeing and helped Yuuri back on his legs. They slowly made their way back to Hasetsu, reaching Minako’s past any sane hour. When they stubbled in her bar she looked at them once and then kicked all the drunkards out of her bar. Yuuri was worse to wear than Viktor, half asleep he let Minako tend to the cuts he didn’t know he had, wincing every now ends then when she put disinfectant on them. He fell asleep with his head in Viktor’s lap, the other hummed a lullaby unknown to him.

Minako didn’t ask what happened, knowing how the world works. She silently patted the Russians shoulder, who refused to get his own cuts treated in favor to not wake up Yuuri. She even brought them some cushions and blankets before she left them for the night.

Sleeping on a bench in the corner of a bar is not really comfortable but Minako let them sleep until midday when she got the first call asking for them. Viktor up as soon as she called him, blinking sleep off his eyes and trying to stretch. He got a protesting grunt and remembered what happened the last night. He looked at his lover and searched for the ugly mark the demon had left on him, but the bruise around Yuuri’s neck was already gone.

“I took the liberty to heal it before you anyone gets the wrong idea.” She said offhand like it was an everyday task.

“Thank you.” He rasped, his own throat dry. She even brought a glass of water for everyone and pushed one to Viktor who greedily gulped it down in a matter of seconds.

“You two should rest today. Sleep in actual beds and relax in the hot springs. Yuuri will be stiff as a board when he wakes up. And let him eat Katsudon or whatever he wants. Whatever happened yesterday, please don’t repeat it. I was scared.”

“We were fooling around with magic. I should have known that they would be attracted to it.” He mumbled and Minako gave him a long sigh.

“You couldn’t have known. But it happened, you both came out alive and bruised, but nothing permanent hurt. You do good to show Yuuri around in our world and let him get his feet wet in a dangerous situation, but I will not always be there to patch you guys up. And I will always fear for Yuuri, you know that.” She told him calmly.

“About that… The sword…”

“Speak words with me, Nikiforov. I still have it, and I know what you are going to ask. It can only belong to him.”

“Did you know that he can summon ice wolves? And he is so damn sexy when he leaps for his prey.” Viktor said dreamily and Minako zapped him, making him nearly jolt.

“That is not what I want to hear about my godson.” She scolded him and then looked down at the still sleeping Yuuri. She knew that he could sleep through earthquakes but it always amazes her seeing it.

“Mamoru, before he was a guardian, was off the warrior class. But he never summoned ice creatures in the entire time I knew him. That is something totally unique to Yuuri.” She told him and Viktor nodded.

“After watching him yesterday… He fought only instinct and took them down so easily.” The Russian sighed and pushed a stray strand of hair was from Yuuri’s forehead. Minako meanwhile went behind her bar and disappeared behind it, only to reappear with the sword.

“You left it behind your bar?”

“For humans, it looks like a bat.” She shrugged and the silver-haired Russian shuddered at the thought of the witch chasing of rowdy drunkards with something that looks like a bat but could slice a man in half.  
He nudged Yuuri awake who gave him more than one unpleased grunt but the younger man groggily woke up and downed the glass of water first of all before he did anything else. Minako told him that they should go home soon because his parents worried about them not coming home without notice. She wordlessly left them with the sword on the table. It felt like an old friend, he wanted to reach out for it but wasn’t sure.

“It is yours. Minako has no use for it.”

Once Yuuri manned up and took it the sword glistered for a moment before it vanished in a bright light and took a new form as a necklace pendant. Yuuri chuckled at the edginess of the blueish glowing crystal but he let Viktor tie it around his healed neck.

Hiroko fussed a lot around them once they got home, Makkachin whining to their feet for being left behind, but it calmed down rather fast. They ate Katsudon, ignoring Mari’s teasing, and after they put their dishes away both went on to go to the empty baths. They enjoyed the private moment, just lazing in the hot water.  
Once fully clothed again Viktor lead them to his room and told Yuuri to sit in front of him. Yuuri had done so before when Viktor styled his hair for competitions, but this was a bit more private and it felt right. The Russian combed gently through the raven hair until it was free of knots and smooth. Yuuri returned the favor and Viktor too felt slowly the events of the day before fall off his shoulders and he relaxed into Yuuri’s talented hands.

It didn’t end with that. Viktor gently nudged Yuuri to lay down on his stomach. His fingers gently run over the wingless back the younger man. A pleasant shiver run down Yuuri’s spine, remembering all these days when he suffered that pain in the back that later should become his wings, and the days when Viktor saw him suffering and offered to massage him.  
But this time Viktor’s fingers found their way under his shirt, pushing it up until he got rid of it completely. The silver-haired man kept going, pressing the right places until Yuuri was a purring pile of goo.

“Yuuri, your wings.” Viktor hummed and Yuuri turned his head a bit to look up to Viktor. He didn’t want to abandon his comfortable position.

“What about ‘em?” He slurred, a bit of sleepiness lingering in his voice.

“Let me groom them. The fluff should fall off, now that you are a fearsome warrior.” Viktor chuckled and got a snort but the wings sprouted from Yuuri’s back and stretched over the whole bed, the tips even touching the ground beside the bed. Grooming felt always a bit strange but in a positive way. Viktor carefully draped the wing in his lap and carefully went through the feathers slowly picking the loose fluff.  
When the Russian asked him to turn so he could groom the other side, Yuuri did something completely else. He twisted around and pinned Viktor down, wings looming over them like a shield from the world, and pressing a kiss on the surprised Russians lips. Viktor smiled into the kiss and it was ridiculed enough for Yuuri to break it after not being able to suppress his own laughter.

“Where were you all of my life, Zolotsye moyo,” Viktor mumbled and Yuuri gave him a crooked smile, remembering his own struggle all the way until they finally met.

“Trying to catch up? You had a head start of 4 years.” He answered and Viktor stole another kiss.

“I don’t deserve you.” The older one claimed and Yuuri let go of Viktor’s hands to silence the silly talking Russian.

“Questionable, but I do say you deserve me. I am the one who doesn’t deserve you.”

“Whoever tells you that nonsense can fight me.” Viktor declared, pushing up to embrace Yuuri and press a kiss on his forehead. Yuuri rested his head on Viktor’s shoulder, listening to the strong heartbeat of his boyfriend, mate, whatever they were. Yuuri drabbed his wings around Viktor like the Russian had done many times before he knew what it meant. The irony of Viktor being the one wingless this time was lost in thoughts when he looked into these loving endless seas of blue shining eyes.

“愛してるよ, I love you,” Yuuri whispered and tenderly stroked Viktor’s cheek.

“Я тоже тебя люблю, love you too,” Viktor replied just as tender and together they fell asleep like this, white with black-tipped feathered wings used as a blanket and the rest of the world forgotten for now.

~+~

They agreed to keep any combat training at a minimum for now. After the free day, they went back on drilling skating routines most of all with the Rostelecom Cup just a few days away. But Yuuri insisted to keep training. And surprisingly, Minako did too. She invited them in her studio, enhanced it and then took a Bo-staff out of nowhere and had told Viktor he was useless, being a long range fighter and all.

Minako was brutal. She gave no instruction at first, telling him to defend himself with his sword, but she threw him off in a matter of seconds. It was frustrating. And then she reminded him, first of all, he had to move his feet.  
Their lessons went on with Yuuri with dancing. A sword fighter glued in one place was a dead one. And sword fighting could be just like a dance, knowing the steps, or katas, making these moves fluid and train them in combat.  
The progress was good for just a week and a half to train with the new weapon but the closest Yuuri came to a win against his teacher was a draw that happened because he fought dirty, but Minako complimented him on it, declaring that in the real world no one fought honorably.

Their flight to Moscow was eventless, Viktor bounced with happiness about a return to Russia but Yuuri knew that he was not as welcomed as his coach there due him ‘stealing’ Viktor from them. And once they were charged by the press in the hotel he excused himself and let Viktor do his job for once in a while. He ignored the mock-betrayal in favor to go to their room to get some much-needed sleep in to help against the jet-lag.  
Seung – Gil Lee joined him to wait for the elevator and once again Yuuri was reminded that due his lack of social skills he had no friendly face to talk with here, besides maybe Yurio but this was questionable. He still didn’t know how to feel about the Russian teen.  
Seung – Gil was a mythical creature too. He wore nine bushy orange tails and a set of black tipped ears were on his head. He looked like a Japanese Kitsune but Yuuri knew that Korea had their own folk-lore about nine-tailed foxes.

Once the elevator pinged open the screaming of one angry man was not avoidable. Michele Crispino yelled at Emil Nekola who took the threats with a smile. Yuuri just stared dumbstruck, the Crispino siblings gave off the same aura as Minako, maybe younger and less powerful, but they were witch and witcher but Emil, on the other hand, had pointed ears and the feeling he gave of was like a cool forest on a hot summer day. It was strange that most of the skaters turned out to be magical in a way.

“Hi, Yuuri! These wings of yours are beautiful!” She said, ignoring the bickering Michele. Yuuri nodded and when she turned to Seung – Gil he took his chance to flee for the other elevator that just happens to open up.  When the door started to close he let off a sigh of relieving, not wanting to deal with the sibling drama and other things when he needed to get his head into the competition.

The Japanese skater was surprised when someone put his foot into the door the last moment and slipped in through the small opening. It was Yurio who gave him a quick glance and then snorted.

“Why sneaking around, Katsudon?” Russia’s Ice Tiger greeted him.

“Oh, Yurio… Good to see you!” Yuuri replied and the other nodded. For a short moment, there was awkward silence between then and Yuuri didn’t like how the teen with the cat traits flexed his claws next to him.

“Um, good luck to both of us in the Rostelecom Cup.” He said and the teen looked up at him, green eyes dangerously narrowed.”

“I should have known that the old man wouldn’t just leave like that for a nobody. You deserve each other. But you will still suffer a miserable defeat here in Moscow. That is my home turf.” The teen growled and Yuuri really had no idea if he should be insulted or take it as a compliment. It also brought ugly thoughts back, like what will Viktor do when he didn’t place 4th or better and wouldn’t make it to the GPF. Right now, a future without the Russian was like someone would rip his heart out of his chest, but in the past, Viktor had more than once proofed that he deciding on whims.  
Yuri left him alone with a grunt once they reached his floor and Yuuri went to his own room, still in thoughts.

He felt better that night and slept peacefully once Viktor had joined him in bed, automatically searching for each other’s warmth they end up tangled in a mess of limbs, feathers, and blankets.  
The next day was hectic, nearly oversleeping due to the comfortable warm bed, a short training for the short program and then lunch and a tiny bit of see-sighting. The Russian was eager to show him small places near the rink that weren’t touristic traps. Then they went back to the arena, styling and getting the costumes took time too.

The skaters prepared for the 6-minute warm up and once they were done and the first stayed on the ice, to begin with, his short program. Viktor shooed him backstage, knowing that Yuuri watching the other skaters wouldn’t do good before his own program. The Japanese skater was in the middle, 3rd last on the ice and so Viktor ordered him to do some light stretches until they would go to the ice.

Yuuri could feel that Viktor was giddy, being in Russia and all, but he also knew from the bond they shared thanks to their Nephilim, that he was sad. Sad that his own people seemed so hostile because of his decision to coach someone outside Russia, and that Yakov still refused to talk to him. At least the man, who was a dwarf according to Viktor and Yuuri had to laugh because Yakov always kind of looked like a dwarf even in disguise, had greeted them with a nod and wasn’t as cold as before. 

Once their time was up they went to the rink. Viktor went down on a knee wordlessly, lacing Yuuri’s skates again and pulling then nodding, pleased with his work.

“Remember, don’t call on your magic, or your Nephil. Keep it fair, and show them the tastiest Katsudon out there.” Viktor teased and Yuuri gave him a smug smile.

“The only one who will get this Katsudon is you!” Yuuri promised him and Viktor laughed. The Japanese skater went on the ice and made a lap, then returned to his coach when choruses of ‘Viktor! Viktor!’ echoed through the rink. It somehow angered the raven-haired half-angel that they would demand Viktor’s attention like this, he was not the attraction of this competition, and most of all did he not belong to them. He grabbed the distracted man’s tie and pulled him towards him, surprising Viktor.

“The performance has already begun, Viktor.” He mumbled just loud enough for the Russian to hear him.

“You are right.” The silver-haired man agreed.

“I’ll show my love to the whole of Russia.” He bit out and pushed himself away before Viktor could reply something. Naturally, a small tinge of embarrassment washed over him, but he tried to shake it off. It was just like fighting in an enemy territory. He had to stay calm.  
When his music started to let himself go, pushing back his own lingering fears he took of and gave the judges a suggestive air - kiss, getting a gasp from the scandalized audience.

Like always he couldn’t keep his head entirely clear, the lingering fear of losing returned as fast as he had tried it to ban, and it whispered ugly words. Yuuri kept thinking about how no one of Russia or maybe the entire world wanted him to win and how this could be the last time that he skated to ‘On Love: Eros’ when he didn’t well. But it gave him motivation. He needed to fight to keep Viktor, needed to fight to proof Russia that Viktor didn’t go for an anybody.  
It was satisfying when the audience started to cheer for him. They took their sweet time but when he executed his jumps and nailed them the crowd finally warmed up to him.

They got his message.

When he skated to the exit of the rink, taking two small food-plushies with him, Yurio hissed at him that he should go out of his way. Viktor and Yuuri could only stare at him marching off on the ice, clearly angry but with a passion never seen before. Had the teenager finally found his ‘Agape’?  
Viktor and he believed so.  
They went to the kiss and cry, it took a moment as always but when the score of 109.97 came in, Yuuri couldn’t believe that he broke his own personal best once again, the whole arena cheered. He placed first in Moscow of all places.  
And Viktor had the guts to embarrass him in front of the whole skating world once again, kissing his boot. He was entirely thankful that his blush was barely visible.

Yuuri looked at the rink where he found his Russian namesake still standing at the railing, mindlessly listening to his coaches, kitty-ears pressed to his head and tail wildly flicking behind him. Oh, Yurio was furious, maybe a good luck could help?

He and Viktor wished him good luck from where they were, but it only made the teen angrier. The blond Russian stormed off and greeted his audience before he took the position on the ice. Meanwhile, the press asked for interviews backstage with him and Viktor and even if Yuuri wanted to see Yurio doing his best, he needed to follow his duty. Sponsors and media were still important, even if they became a smaller part of his life these days.

They answered the questions they felt comfortable with. Viktor always told him that he didn’t need to answer what he didn’t want to. They asked how Yuuri felt about placing first and what he had planned to do to keep the place and so on.  
An announcer informed them that Yuri’s skate was over and that the scores came in, and to Viktor’s and Yuuri’s surprise the teenager didn’t beat him like promised. He was still leading.

Yuuri was surprised when he felt the vibration of his phone in his jacket. Normally no one phoned him during the competition, knowing about his flattering nerves and how he didn’t want to disappoint anyone. That meant… it was an emergency. He fished it out of his pocket and excused himself from the interviews, turning away and let Viktor stand guard.

_Incoming call: Mari_

He answered.

“ _Yuuri! Thank god. Sorry for bothering you during an event, but Makkachin got into the steamed buns and they got stuck in his throat. We are at the vet right now, but we are not sure he’ll make it.”_ She told him and Yuuri froze. This was bad. This was Vicchan all over again, and the last time it brought him on the verge of breaking.

“Sorry, what do you want us to do?”

He turned to Viktor, who had sensed his sudden distress.

“You need to go back to Japan right now! I’ll face the free skate tomorrow on my own!” He declared and his coach was clearly confused about what was going on. He gave Viktor his phone, letting Mari explain what happened to him personally. Viktor said calmly to her that he would need to think, but Yuuri could tell that he was trembling and afraid. He then ended the call and turned to Yuuri once again.

“I can’t leave you alone. Yuuri… not now.” Viktor said, his voice was clearly shaking in distress and Yuuri knew he had to be the strong one for once.

“You have to. You know what happened to me and I would never forgive myself when you can’t be there for Makkachin. Not like I left Vicchan back.” The raven-haired argued.

“Listen, I can’t! Not as your coach… and not as your mate. It would hurt both of us.” Viktor denied and Yuuri growled in anger. He didn’t want to fight Viktor on this. He could take being hurt by himself, but Makkachin was close to him too, and he couldn’t bear it to separate Viktor from his dog when there was the possibility that the poodle wouldn’t make it.  
Viktor looked like he was about to cry, and normally that was his job. But when they saw Yakov, Lilia, and Yurio approaching them Viktor had a solution for their problem. Even if it meant that a separation between him and Yuuri in that state of their soul-bond was painful it was also a test for them.

“Yakov!” He shouted the dwarf looked surprised that Viktor suddenly talked to him again.

“You are the only coach to me,” Viktor mumbled, confusing all around them. Yuuri wanted to ask what is going on, but Yakov already took over, asking if Viktor wanted to return.

“Can you be Yuuri’s coach tomorrow, just for one day?” He asked desperately and it did not only shock the elderly coach but Yuuri and Yurio too. Viktor slipped back in rapid-fired Russian to explain himself and Yakov gave in, knowing just as much how important Makkachin was to Viktor. Yuuri, still in his costume, saw Viktor off at the arena entrance where a taxi already waited after a quick call, Viktor even booked the next flight possible to Japan already.

“I am sorry to do this to you.” The silver-haired man mumbled against his forehead and then kissed him goodbye, and Yuuri could feel his heart wrench in pain when he watched the taxi disappear into the night. He stood there for a while, just staring at nothing and trying to calm his own feelings.

“Oi Katsudon!” Yurio ripped him out of them, he even went so far to actually kick his ass.

“Get change, nobody needs a mopey idiot blocking the entrance.” The teenager growled, his voice softer than usual. For the first time, the insults felt empty. He followed the feline to the nearly empty changing rooms and peeled his costume off, taking his sweet time.

“You know, you guys, the Nephilim are supposed to be strong guardians, but seeing you and the old man being ridiculed all the time makes me sick. Get a spine or something.”

“Um, you forget that we are the strongest when we are together, Yurio.” Yuuri calmly replied.

“Yeah, and I seriously think that the exaggerated about you. Taking down demons like nothing, being more graceful than me, a werecat.” The younger skater snorted and Yuuri raised a brow. Viktor told Yuri that?

“Let’s go, Yakov is waiting.” Yuri then declared and Yuuri followed, a small smile tugging at his lips. A dog person would say the kid was all bark and now bites, and Yuuri actually was glad for the rough handling of the kid. Pity was the last thing he needed.

He was unaware of the message that pinged on his phone, being in a heated discussion about what he actually fought some demons and went out as the winning party and Yurio not believing him.

 

Unknown

> _You would do better to not ignore us. The next time we will make sure something happens_


	9. Chapter 9

Yuuri didn’t sleep well, not at all. He felt sick, thoughts running wild, about Makkachin, and Viktor… About everything and nothing. The feeling of being abandoned clutched on him, even if he was the one who insisted that Viktor would fly back to Japan.  
When he finally fell asleep from exhaustion he still tossed and turned to search for the familiar warmth that was gone.  
He groggily opened the door the next morning when Plisetsky furiously knocked. The teen gave him a quick glance and the huffed.

“You look like shit, Katsudon.” The feline boy greeted and Yuuri replied with a huff on his own.

“That is why I don’t like the whole soulmate shit. You ALWAYS feel someone ripped your heart out, even if the other is just gone for some days.” The teen explained and Yuuri understood. Viktor had tried to warn him the day before but he ignored it willingly. But Yuuri asked himself how the teen knew about it.

“You are fucking obvious, pig. My parents! They were soulmates and broke up because not every pair of soulmates has to be all sickly lovely like you and the old man. My mother couldn’t stand me after they broke up and sent me to gramps so she could vanish to god knows where.” The punk hissed and his tail flicked madly. The Japanese skater nodded sadly, that wasn’t something one would want as a kid coming off a pair of soulmates. He knew Yurio wouldn’t accept his pity so he went on to get ready for a quick breakfast. He slung his gear bag over his shoulder and grabbed his phone from the charger. He looked at the screen, hoping to get any news from Viktor, but there was a single message from an unknown number. It was written in Kanji…

> ‘ _You would do better to not ignore us. The next time we will make sure something happens.’_

Did they text the wrong number? He didn’t know someone from Japan who had his number outside of his family and they wouldn’t share it without noticing him. A shudder run down his spine and he blocked the number. It wasn’t the first time that he got strange texts like this, he remembered getting one right before the Cup of China but had dismissed it.

“Everything ok?” Yurio asked, already half-way out of the room, giving him a sharp glance.

“Oh…yes! I just checked if Viktor had any news but he didn’t write yet.”

“That damn mutt of his will make it. Now move, I am hungry. And Lilia will bitch if we make her wait.” The teen growled and both Yuris went to the dining room where the already waiting Madame Baranovskaya. She gave them a hard glance for the tardiness but let them eat. Lilia looked like a lioness, here features sharp, but her nature was off. When he felt her hard glance starring at him he looked up into her eyes, it was a quiet battle for information. She wanted to know if he would give in his anxiety and hurt feelings or not. Minako had perfected this art with him, and Lilia used this skill just as masterfully as his sensei.

“You would have made a better dancer than a skater, Katsuki. Minako did well to keep you under her, but I disagree with her push to ice skating.” Lilia said, her voice cutting through him and let him sit straighter.  
Next, to him, Yurio couldn’t stop himself from hissing at his choreographer, fully disagreeing.

“I am quite happy to be able to kick Katsudon’s ass.” The teen mumbled and Yuuri had to bit back a small chuckle when he saw Lilia scolding the punk. It made his raging feelings better to bear because he wasn’t completely alone. Yurio cared for him in his own strange way.  
Lilia then made sure that they were in time for their training.  
Yakov took a quick glance at him and forbade any jumps. He then went on to growl and grumble in Russian and Lilia seemed displeased with that but Yuuri took off to do his routine, only marking the jumps but loosing up a bit in his performance. It was his story, and he would tell it once again today in front of the whole of Russia.

“Katsuki.” Yakov then called him and he skated over, taking the water bottle the old coach offered him.

“Whatever the airhead had done to you… your form is actually better. I still don’t think he should coach anyone.” Coach Feltsman grunted and Yuuri offered a small chuckle.

“He isn’t bad, but not for a beginner. I think any more trying to let Yuri find his ‘Agape’ and he would have skinned Viktor alive.” He told Viktor’s ex-coach who gave him just a grunt. More conversation with the Russian coach was cut off by the familiar sound of a ‘ping’ from his phone and he fished it out of his training-jacket. Squinting at it he saw the name Viktor and he went off the ice to gather his glasses from Lilia who had taken over the task to hold his and Yuri's personal things that they didn’t carry with them on the ice.

 

Viktor _  
_

> _Makkachin is up and resting. She sends her love. You can do this, we will be watching!_

 

His mood made a turn, a lot of his fears falling off and he cheered with Viktor and hoped that Makkachin would make a speedy recovery.  
The change was not unnoticed by Yuri when he returned back on the ice, skating a bit more lighthearted. He still hated the feeling of being left behind by his soulbound, it still hurt but the good news put new wind under his wings and carried him for a while. The teenager scowled when the Japanese skater put more vigor into his moves but Yakov ended the training before one of them could do something reckless.

Yakov ignored him most of the time, in favor of scolding his skater once they were off the ice. Lilia, on the other hand, gave him sharp commands whenever he started to crumble because of the loss of Viktor not being there. It was just what he needed, even if the angry feline-like boy yelled that he should stop stealing his coaches.  
She even helped him with his costume and hair once she was done with Yurio, her face showing clear distaste for the dark circles underneath his eyes and she pulled a bit too much on his hair.  
And the raven-haired skater could even swear that she mumbled Minako’s name more than once.

Yuuri had a hard time to fight off the reporters who tried to dig into his sudden coach changes. Morooka was the worst of all, and he had to defend Viktor’s coach because in the eyes of the media they didn’t talk and were just cold to each other. He missed Viktor more than ever. His counterpart was much more elegant with handling the media while he struggled to not break out in an anxiety attack.

Eventually, the media has to let him go and he went back to the Russian coaches, Yurio missing but at least Yakov and Lilia were a small puffer. Yuuri had to shrug off the hostility that some of the Russian officials tried to downplay but miserably failed. And then group two was finally able to take the ice for a warm up. Viktor would have told him to not do any jumps, but with him not there, and his anxiety lingering under his skin he had to make sure that he could still do them… like in the case he would forget how to jump his own signature, the triple axel, or the trice damned quad salchow.

His head was running miles and he opened up to early in the salchow and fell. Gritting his teeth he jumped back on his feet, Yakov shouted ‘NO MORE JUMPS, KATSUKI’ but he went on anyway, downgrading it and even if he tumbled a bit he was able to land.  
Their time was up and Yuuri skated off the ice, making sure to be out as the first one and avoiding contact with anyone. He put on his headphones and searched for the calmest place backstage to do his stretches and some more warm up. Nobody needed to see how he started to shake, Viktor had warned him about the effects that a newly created bond would have on them. Why soulmates struggled at all to leave each other. Yuuri gritted his teeth, it was horrible, he shook like a leave in the wind and felt homesick like never before. How did Yuri’s parents manage to break off without feeling like crap? He certainly felt like someone had skated over him.

Once he saw Yuri, Yakov, and Lilia going up to the ice he went to put on his skates again and used the last moments possible to get back into the right mindset. He watched Yuri going on the ice and skate his program and all he could ask himself is how the teenager stayed so calm and level-headed. His own memories of his senior debut were less pleasant but Plisetsky seemed to enjoy himself.  
Yuuri saw how the younger skater executed jump after jump with precision, that the last combination nailed and all of Russia cheering for their rising star. He couldn’t deny that the feline boy had a grace in his jumps that other missed. Yurio’s tail swished furiously behind him, steading the hard-breathing boy in his ending pose, and his ears pressed flat on his head when they were hit by the screaming of the audience. The audience didn’t see what it took out of the young Russian, just seeing a perfect program, but Yuuri knew the toll it had taken out of the boy. He watched how the tired Yurio collected some cat-plushies and going off the ice. Whatever score Yuri would get, the Japanese skater knew that the boy had deserved it.

When he stepped up to the gate to the rink and handed Yakov his jacket and skate guards his mind not where it should be. He felt the pressure catch up, he needed to place fourth or he was out and what would Viktor think? This was Viktor’s home turf, and he still had to proof Russia that he didn’t waste their champions time. His whole self-control slipped, and his Nephil rattled in anger, his wings appearing and throwing him off. He quickly reined them in, pressing them tight to his back but Yuuri knows he had to get back in control.

How did Viktor make him feel so secure, even before he knew that they were soulmates? Never once he felt comfortable enough to even try to go for gold for himself, never did someone understand what he needed to succeed.  
The thoughts on Viktor… helped. He wanted to win the gold medal in Sochi too… and Viktor came along and told him that he was not weak. Heck, they even fought demons together and he never felt so strong before. And it was love that drove him on, the love he got from Viktor, who believed in his skills, even before the bond.

Slowly his fighting spirit returned. He might not be a guardian like Viktor, he was new to fighting back at all after so many years of just struggling and somehow surviving, but now he would bite back, not giving up. He snorted inwardly at the thought of Yurio’s last combination so close to the end of the teen’s program. Yuuri would prove them that he was the skater with the most endurance in Russia. Viktor’s coaching wasn’t going to be wasted, he jumped and the triple axel was clean, Viktor might not be there, but even if he was, on the ice he had always to fight alone.

The triple flip sat and he went on, wasting only a small thought at his wings that were still tugged on his back. Not once he had allowed himself to spread them to catch a fall. He wouldn’t cheat, he wouldn’t make his own life harder with letting air resistance slow him down more than it already did. This was his program and it told his story, and no one could skate it like him.

Triple axel, single loop, triple Salchow combination and Russia for once warmed up for him. It wasn’t planned, but it was a challenge to Russia’s Yuri. Yuuri even sat another combination on it, triple lutz, triple toe loop. He had dedicated this program to his loved ones, most of all Viktor, and he wouldn’t give up until he got that gold with Viktor.  
The next combination had a short touchdown, but he didn’t let him bother it as much as before, his feathers might have bristled a bit in annoyance, but who wouldn’t feel annoyed when one had to touch down while the program started to get smooth.

He had to admit that everything added up, his comeback in the middle of the program, had for once taken out everything of his stamina that he had. Once Yuuri had held his ending pose long enough he let himself on the ice, gasping for breath and feeling the cold underneath his fingers. Its familiar bite reminded him of the nipping of his ice wolves when he summoned them. Once he had caught his breath he went to the exit and Yakov wordlessly and grumpily gave him back his things, even pushing him his water-bottle in the hand with a short command to drink.

The walked to the kiss and cry and Yakov seemed to want to tell him something but struggled to find the words. It didn’t take the Russian coach long to find them, scolding him that he didn’t take advantage out of the program Viktor did for him. Yakov went on to rant but Yuuri knew the moment the Russian had called Viktor Vitya, that there were no hard feelings between them, and he just received the same treatment Yakov shared for all his skaters.

And now he got why Viktor lectured him always in the kiss and cry.

Yuuri’s score was high enough to temporarily place him 3rd.

“I didn’t expect it to be that high. You are lucky that the judges are all non-magical” The dwarf muttered and the Japanese knew he made it. Only JJ was left and he would place 4th if the Canadian kept up his spiel, securing him a place in the final.  Yuuri didn’t know how to express his gratefulness other than to hug Yakov, muttering ‘spasibo’.

“Enough boy. You are just as bad as Vitya.” Yakov softly scowled and peeled him off.

Yuuri felt like he needed to thank the whole world for his chance. And he started with the skaters. He chased after every one of them, thanking them with a tight hug. Some were friendly, patted him and wished him luck for the finals, others didn’t know what to do and then there was Yurio. He chased the kitten through the whole backstage. At least Yurio had helped him to find his own fighting will again.

Yuri hissed at him, sharp canines dangerously gleaming, ears pressed on his head and tail swishing in furry, but once he saw that the raven-haired skater wouldn’t leave he took flight instead of fight.  
Yuuri tired himself fast enough, his wings slowing him down.  
He just stayed long enough to see the medal ceremony, but then went back to the hotel, not without thanking Yakov and Lilia again for their time.

Now with the whole event over he felt a lot of pressure gone and once again he felt lonely and restless. In the hotel, he got his phone out of his room and took it with him out. He wandered around the block of the hotel, once his phone went on and received a signal Viktor called.

The pressure on his chest went off once Viktor’s voice reached him, light scolding for the mistakes in the program but then they changed to rambling just how they missed each other. Makkachin was up again even if she was still on rest order.  
Yuuri only nudged his soulmate to end the call when Viktor yawned into his phone and his words were barely understandable slurs. The silver-haired Nephil chuckled tiredly but gave up after another yawn. Yuuri promised he would call the next day, he still needed to stay another day ‘til he would fly home.

Once he pressed the red button he let go a shuddering breath, looking to the street crossing he had reached, cars speeding past him. It long has started to snow and he let once again wander his thoughts. The final was his last chance to go all out. Maybe he had reached his peek thanks to Viktor, and gold would proof that… but even without…

He didn’t get a warning when something heavy pounced him. His wings automatically flared, his clothing changed to his armor and he had a hand on the crystal that was his sword. Viktor and he had trained for surprise attacks, and this felt like one. He twirled himself around in the air, a heavy beat of his wings shook the predator off him and got a distance between him and the potential enemy.

But the aura wasn’t hostile, a large sandy colored puma with piercing green eyes and a paper bag carefully between its teeth growled at him, it sounded more like a cat version of a chuckle. The feline got up onto two legs and transformed, still cackling.

“There you are, Katsudon. You made me look for you. So Viktor wasn’t idiotic enough to only coddle you. BUT what was that earlier? That free skate? Don’t excuse yourself with telling me it was because the old man wasn’t there. I was in top form and earned my personal best and I expected you to do the same! I lost to JJ again too! You don’t have a right to feel more down than me!” The blond teenager growled and then threw his paper bag at his namesake who caught it.

“You can have it. It is almost your birthday, isn’t it?” The feline said, now much calmer and friendlier. Yuuri looked into the bag and to his surprise it was pirozhki. That gesture made him let his guard go and his clothing changed back into his warm clothes, only his wings remaining.

“Eat.” The werecat demanded and Yuuri took one and bit into it. The taste was familiar and from the knowing Cheshire cat grin on the Russian’s face told him he was right. It tasted like Katsudon.

“Gramps made them, they are good, aren’t they?” Yuri smiled and the Japanese nodded eagerly. Yuuri saved the rest for later when he was back in his room. Yurio insisted that he would walk with him back to the hotel and Yuuri accepted it, just for not being alone for a while.

“So…Can I ask you one thing? Why didn’t you tell the old man earlier that you could see us?” Plisetsky said a light scowl in his voice and the Nephil had to sigh deeply.

“What would have changed if I did? I don’t have the best experience with telling people that I can see fairies. And I didn’t want to risk to weir Viktor out when he showed up.”

“You know, everything could have gone faster if you had given him a chance to detect what you are. He believed you were doomed to die. And you reeked like a fucking _Walker among the Worlds._ ” The teenager spat and Yuuri shuddered. People around him kept mentioning the _Walker among Worlds_ but he didn’t know why they were bad. He needed to know why it would have been that bad to be part of them. So he asked and Yurio swore up curses in three different languages.

“Of all the things he had to left out! If you ever see a _Walker_ kill him. I am serious. They killed so many of our kind, but they are all dead. Or just good at hiding. Stupid humans and their jealousy. Humans that can see but not do anything magical. They are able to look through the layer in BETWEEN the worlds. Gramps told me the story when I was just a kitten more than once. They killed us with their modern weapons until claws and magic overpowered them. Sometimes genes of normal mortals play crazy, creating new _Walkers_ but the fact alone that they can see magic makes them greedy and crazy. Your kind, katsudon, nearly died completely thanks to them. Damn Nephilim were rare enough before the magical war but after that? I think Viktor once told me that there were around 100 pairs in the world left.” Yurio ranted and Yuuri gulped. He was happy that he turned out to be magical himself, that he was the perfect match for the man he had admired most of his life.

The familiar ping of a figure skating news app Yuuri had downloaded a while ago interrupted the ranting of the teenager, he looked curious when the Japanese read the familiar kanji and paled.

**_Rostelecom Cup overshadowed by disappearance of uprising figure skater Minami Kenjirou_ **

“What? The old man sent a dick pic?” The feline hissed but Yuuri for the first time that day deeply scowled at Yurio’s noisy attitude.

“A fellow Japanese skater is missing,” Yuuri told his namesake who looked at him irritated.

“The chicken nugget?”

“Huh?”

“Kenjirou? Annoying fanboy of yours? I know him, he was decent in juniors but wouldn’t shut up about his idol in seniors. Stupid werewolf puppy. That Chicken Nugget.” Yuri explained himself and Yuuri nodded.

“Shit. Do they have clues?”

“No, apparently he didn’t show up to his training two days in a row. His coach was worried but couldn’t reach him. His parents don’t know where he is.”

“You should go home ASAP and coddle Viktor. You are shaking Katsudon. The chicken nugget will eventually show up again. Maybe he found some teenage angst within him and rebels or the wolf genes finally kicked in and he is hunting a few days.” Yuri tried to calm him. They had reached the hotel and fell silent again. Once the elevator stopped at Yurio’s floor the teenager bit a short goodbye and left him alone.

Yuuri didn’t sleep well that night. He managed to sleep a bit in the plane, but once he landed in Japan he got a text message from a new unknown number.

 

Unknown

 

 

> _It’s your fault._

 

He trembled and wrote ‘Who are you?’ but didn’t get a reply.  
A familiar bark ripped him out of his thoughts and his gaze fell on a brown poodle who pressed himself on the see-through wall that divided waiting people from the arriving ones. Yuuri immediately knew it was Makkachin, and Viktor seemed to have already found him to thanks to his dog. Both ran to the last door that was in between them, Makkachin directly on Viktor’s heels. The automatic door took too long for Yuuri’s liking to open but once he could squeeze through with his suitcase he jumped to Viktor, gripping his mate in a tight hug and releasing a shuddering breath, finally he was home. Finally, he had Viktor back.

He hadn’t told Viktor about Minami yet, but the silver-haired man already knew that something was bothering him. For a moment they just enjoyed the embrace.

“Yuuri, I was thinking about what I could do as your coach.” Viktor started, and Yuuri sighed. These thoughts were bothering him too.

“Me too.” He said and pushed Viktor slightly so there was some space between them, “Please be my coach until I retire!” He asked and left Viktor a bit speechless. Unknown to the Russian was that Yuuri didn’t plan to extend his figure skating career after that. Not only did he think he peeked, but that text messages gave him the chills, and if it was true, his skating, and with that resulting Minami as his fan, was at fault for the younger skater going missing. He couldn’t bear it. Not that Viktor left for him, not that Minami was missing.  
But it was good that Viktor believed that they had more time. Yuuri didn’t want to fight with his soulmate now when he felt like everything was crashing down on him when things just got stable.

Once again there were wings looming around them, securing this moment just for them when Viktor took his hand and kissed his knuckles.

“It is almost like a marriage proposal.” The man said with a wide smile and Yuuri couldn’t help himself but for a moment he forgot the weight on his shoulders. He nuzzled into Viktor’s shoulder and Viktor rambles how he wished that he would never retire. Yuuri suppressed another shudder, tears pooling up in his eyes.

At least he was a home. And for a short while, he was in peace.

But darkness was looming.


End file.
